The spread of internet and virtual space has led to the growth of the phenomenon of filtering and censorship, and the fight against filtering and attempts to bypass it have been equally prevalent. However, filtering and censorship in virtual space is not an occurrence exclusive to Iran and the Islamic Republic; almost all governments, for various reasons and justifications, impose a certain level of censorship and control in different forms and sizes in virtual space. However, the unique circumstances of some countries, including Iran, and the relationship between the people and the government have given a particular quality to this phenomenon.

The more general and widespread censorship on the internet is implemented for reasons such as preventing and tracking internet fraud, preventing child pornography and protecting families, etc. in almost all societies, both democratic and non-democratic. However, in addition to this, in most underdeveloped societies, a form of internet censorship is also imposed which has political roots and aims to prevent the circulation of information, censor political, religious and ideological opponents and critics, and ultimately to preserve the government’s power against the people.

Due to the restriction of communication channels, the internet in these societies becomes a place for gathering and organizing for opponents and critics. A large part of censorship energy in these societies is dedicated to controlling and silencing these opposing voices and blocking these virtual connections; in Iran, the discussion of censorship and filtering has been a political issue since the beginning of the emergence of the internet.

In March 2013, Reporters Without Borders published a report on World Day Against Internet Censorship, in which Iran, along with China, Syria, Bahrain, and Vietnam, were named as the five worst enemies of the internet. According to the report by Freedom House, which categorizes countries based on access barriers, content restrictions, and violations of user rights, the state of internet freedom in Iran was evaluated as the worst in the world in 2014.

The institutions involved in filtering in Iran are extensive and have a complex structure. Some of the important institutions include the Supreme Council of Virtual Space, the Working Group for Determining Criminal Content, the Cyber Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the FATA Police. Among these, the leader of Iran plays a significant role in determining the key influential individuals in these filtering institutions. The Supreme Council of Virtual Space is the highest institution responsible for determining overall policies for the virtual space in the face of what is known as soft war with the West, and was directly formed by the leader of the Islamic Republic in 2012.

A look at the list of approved subjects and topics subject to censorship by the Committee for Determining Criminal Content in Iran shows how much filtering in Iran is entangled with political motives.

• Content against chastity and public morality

• Content against Islamic sanctities

• Content against security and public tranquility.

• Content against government and public institutions.

• The content used for committing cyber crimes (content related to cyber crimes).

• Content that incites, encourages, or invites to commit a crime (content related to other crimes).

• Criminal content related to audiovisual and intellectual property.

• Criminal content related to the elections of the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

• Criminal content related to presidential elections.

In a report by Ahmad Shahid, the special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, there is a chart of filtered pages on the Wikipedia website which shows that 946 pages on this website have been filtered. Among these, 414 are related to civil and political issues, 189 are related to sexual issues, 137 are related to religious issues, and 97 are related to human rights issues. However, the civil society has never been idle and has not surrendered; immediately after the emergence of filtering, the fight against it became a major issue for most people and opposition and critical groups. Various methods of bypassing filtering and creating and using filter breakers were taught on different websites and by different groups. With the rise of filtered social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, the use of VPNs, which not only bypass filtering but also hide the user’s identity from cyber police, became widespread.

During the Green Movement and protests of 1388, while the fight was taking place on the streets, there was also a relentless battle in the virtual space for communication, organization of political activists, and dissemination of information while bypassing internet filtering. It reached a point where filtering, which was based on specific keywords, chose the word “filter breaker” as the first keyword for automatic filtering software, causing all websites and blogs that mentioned “filter breaker” to be automatically filtered. This forced users to come up with creative terms such as “filter+breaker” and “sugar breaker” to refer to and search for filter breakers. Even the word “Bahman”, which was the month in which the protests took place, was considered a keyword for filtering for a period of time.

Of course, the work did not end here and the Iranian political police, including the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards, arrested and detained those who were working to fight filtering and create filter breakers. Many of them were sentenced to heavy prison terms. Later, the use of filter breakers was defined as a crime, while most Iranian officials, including the Supreme Leader, President, and ministers, were using filtered social networks and inevitably using filter breakers. Perhaps it was these contradictions that led the Minister of Guidance of the Islamic Republic to confess to the futility of filtering and internet censorship after the eleventh election. Ali Jannati, in a speech to digital media activists in Tehran’s Vahdat Hall, emphasized that “no method, not even filtering, can prevent global communication and free access to information.” He said, “Just as we were unable to limit access to satellite networks by creating parasites and preventing the installation of dishes on television networks, we cannot have any effect on access

All of these words are still at the level of slogans and formalities with foreign journalists, and a few days later it was announced that: “With the order of Hassan Rouhani in November 2014, the smart filtering plan for the internet will be implemented in three phases.” This means that the struggle between filter makers and filter breakers will continue…

This article will be incomplete if it does not mention the darkest and most censored point in the history of internet censorship in Iran, which is the murder of the young worker and blogger, Sattar Beheshti, under the torture of the cyber police; may he rest in peace.