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November 6, 2024

An analysis of the virtual space of the country and the future outlook / Samuel Bakhtiyari

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Samuel Bakhtiari

The “Small Media” Institute, at the beginning of the year 2015 AD, published a report on the performance of government institutions involved in the subject of the internet in Mr. Rouhani’s government. This research focuses on the increase of budget in various sectors, the method of budget spending, and the outlook of the virtual space in Iran. The following writing is a brief translation of this report.

The great victory of Hassan Rouhani in the 2015 presidential election in Iran and the end of 8 years of presidency of Mr. Ahmadinejad, a close ally of the conservative faction, once again brought the reformists closer to the power pyramid of the Islamic Republic system. According to many political and social experts, the reformist faction of the Islamic Republic system is more open-minded towards current issues and has a more liberal approach. After the victory of Mr. Hassan Rouhani, many media outlets such as BBC, Telegraph, Guardian, and Al Jazeera America spoke more freely from the perspective of Rouhani’s election team.

One of the everyday topics for people in Iran and other countries around the world is the concept of using the internet. Based on statistical estimates, more than 40% of people in Iran have access to the internet; however, many believe that the quality of the available internet is not satisfactory for customers. Despite the poor quality, Iranian customers still pay a high price for this virtual commodity. And of course, there is censorship!

In his first television interview before the elections, Mr. Rouhani accused the state-run broadcasting organization of censorship and lying. He criticized the widespread internet filtering, stating that it has not reduced access for people and youth to immoral websites. According to Rouhani, censorship has only created a gap between the people and the system.

But 18 months after Mr. Rouhani’s victory and his dissatisfaction with the state of the domestic internet, no significant change can be seen in the virtual space.

In January 2012, complex laws were enacted by the Iranian legislators to further control internet activities. In March of the same year, the leader of the Islamic Republic issued a decree to establish the Supreme Council of Cyberspace. This council is a powerful institution with the ability to regulate any opinions on the internet. The National Information Network (SHOMA) or the National Internet was also launched in the same year, causing concern among internet activists. They were worried about potential disruptions or increased control over connections to the global internet network.

In the early months of 2013 until the presidential election, the slow internet speed had made many Iranian users angry. Of course, the slow internet speed and its connection to the presidential election was not a foreign phenomenon for Iranian users. After Mr. Rouhani’s victory, the President himself and other members of the cabinet were very active on social networks. Despite the ban in Iran by the President and his Foreign Minister, Twitter and Facebook have been used multiple times. President Rouhani’s Twitter account has attracted more than 300,000 users. However, in order to avoid his rivals and their criticisms, Mr. Rouhani has entrusted the management of his Twitter account to his supporters and has somewhat distanced himself from being present on this social network. But Mohammad Javad Zarif, with his verified Twitter account, confirms his posts officially.

The use of Western social networks by the officials of the Rouhani government is taking place while the previous government openly supported filtering these networks. Reza Taghipour, the former Minister of Technology and Communications, in an interview with the newspaper “Tajarat Farda”, supported the filtering of Viber and WhatsApp and claimed that the information of Iranian users is being handed over to the Zionist regime (the description used by the officials of the Islamic Republic for Israel) by these Western social networks. Meanwhile, Mr. Vaezi, the Minister of Communications and Technology of the Rouhani government, had a different opinion.

Smal Media Institute, by examining the budget of the Ministry of Communications, has achieved interesting results. In fact, despite the government’s efforts to spend the ministry’s budget on transparent and routine expenses, a significant portion of the budget has been allocated to other matters.

According to Small Media, the Unconventional Budgets (PMB) have seen a several-fold increase, while the regular budget (PEN) of the Ministry of Communications and Technology has faced a 22% decrease. The President and the Minister have repeatedly emphasized the transparency of the spending process, but it is clear that the widespread increase in the PMB is a sign of the budget approvers’ interest in spending in the shadows. A large portion of the PMB is allocated to matters such as cyber security and the expansion of the National Information Network (SHOMA).

Cybersecurity is considered one of the concerns of the Iranian government. High-ranking officials of the government have repeatedly warned about cyber attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear and industrial facilities. Officials are worried and pessimistic, especially towards Western countries. According to some government officials, Western countries, particularly the United States and Israel, are always seeking to harm the interests and capabilities of the Islamic Republic. Some cyber attacks, such as Stuxnet and Flame, have reinforced this belief among top government officials. Iran’s nuclear and industrial infrastructure has been the target of cyber attacks in recent years. The origin of these attacks has never been officially revealed, but the blame has been pointed towards the West.

Despite Mr. Rouhani’s promises and his team’s interest in greater freedom in the virtual space, it seems that stronger forces are ruling over Iran’s virtual space and it is uncertain what the different views of the officials of the Islamic Republic about the internet and virtual space will mean for the fate of the internet, virtual space, and social networks. However, without a doubt, in the coming years, there will be more opposition to filtering social networks. According to Ali Jannati, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, there are currently more than 9.5 million users of the Viber network in the country. Despite the firmness of some leaders of the judicial system and the Supreme Council for Monitoring Virtual Space in blocking access to popular applications like Viber, it seems that any effort to intensify the blocking will be a major blow to the future election plans of Mr. Rouhani’s team. Politically, Rouhani does not see blocking these applications as beneficial. Considering his previous

The efforts of conservatives to gain more control over the internet should not be ignored. The launch of the “Yooz” search engine as the final phase of the “Shoma” project has raised concerns among Iranian users that their access to the global internet will be blocked. These concerns are not unfounded, but it should be noted that Iran’s technical capabilities do not currently allow for such actions. Promises of financial support for domestic tech companies have also not been very effective. Despite the growth of domestic companies in the virtual space, many still use servers outside the country, such as “Blogfa,” a popular blogging service for Iranians. Blogfa currently uses Canadian servers to provide services to its customers.

In the coming years, undoubtedly Iranian users will use VPN more widely. However, the security of VPNs offered in the Iranian market is highly questionable. The widespread use of VPNs among Iranians is a testament to their greater concern for accessing the internet rather than online security. Nareeman Ghareeb, an expert in the online space, has concluded that most users prefer VPNs that are easy to use. According to Ghareeb, the lack of internet knowledge among Iranian users deprives them of the chance to use secure VPNs.

But these predictions should be postponed until the full launch of the national information network (you). After the full launch of this project, the status of the virtual space in Iran can be analyzed with certainty.

Samuel Bakhtiyari
November 26, 2016

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