(C) Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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Iran Accused Of Secretly Implementing Controversial Draft Internet Bill [1]
['Golnaz Esfandiari']
Date: 2022-09
During his election campaign, Ebrahim Raisi vowed not to further restrict the Internet in Iran, where authorities already block tens of thousands of websites and regularly throttle or cut Internet connectivity.
But since the hard-line president assumed power in August 2021, experts say his administration has been secretly implementing a highly controversial draft bill designed to intensify online censorship and limit Internet access.
The Cyberspace Protection Bill would hand over control of Iran's Internet gateways to the armed forces and criminalize the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) that mask Internet users’ locations and enable them to view blocked websites.
Attempts to pass the bill in parliament, which is dominated by hard-liners, have been met with fierce criticism, public calls for its withdrawal, and warnings that it would stoke popular anger.
But this week, Iran’s Supreme Cyberspace Council, a body chaired by Raisi and created by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2012, appeared to sidestep the legislature and partially approve the draconian bill.
“The quiet implementation [of the bill] has been happening for almost a year,” Mahsa Alimardani a digital-rights researcher with the human rights organization ARTICLE 19, told RFE/RL.
Alimardani said the move by the Supreme Cyberspace Council is a “circumvention of the parliamentary process,” adding that the legislature “had lost the will to push the bill forward” because of the lack of political consensus.
In a directive issued on September 6, the Supreme Cyberspace Council revealed the members of the Supreme Regulatory Commission and its “duties." The council has been given broad powers and is in charge of regulating the country’s cyberspace, according to the directive.
The commission includes representatives from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the police, the Intelligence Ministry, and the judiciary, according to the directive.
Observers inside the country noted that the directive issued this week is a key part of the unapproved Cyberspace Protection Bill. By issuing the directive, they said authorities had taken a major step in implementing the draft legislation.
'Dangerous Precedent'
Media outlets affiliated with Iran’s moderate and reformist political camps warned that the contentious bill was becoming a reality.
The reformist Shargh daily reported that the Supreme Cyberspace Council had adopted an "important part" of the draft Internet bill, saying it would further hinder the free flow of information and prevent the public exposure of government corruption.
The reformist Iranian daily Etemad said the Supreme Regulatory Commission would not include members of civil society and the private sector that are highly dependent on Internet access.
Hamed Bidi, a Tehran-based cyberexpert, said the move had set a “dangerous precedent” and should be challenged in court.
“The articles of the Cyberspace Protection Bill were previously declared to be contrary to the Constitution by the Parliament Research Center and many jurists opposed it,” Bidi told Tejaratnews.ir on September 7. “But now the Supreme Cyberspace Council has approved it while not paying any attention to the opinions of experts.”
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[1] Url:
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-internet-bill-controversy-secretly-implementing/32026313.html
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