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Today, the majority of the Iranians want freedom
Iran became a prison for them, ahmadinejad became the dictator
Controlling the Internet:
As more citizens use the Internet as a source for news and political debate, the government has responded by:
Monitoring and filtering Internet content: Iran routinely blocks access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networking sites, blog platforms, photo or video-exchange websites, and other sites related to politics and human rights.*Recent reports indicate that Iran has blocked over 5 million websites, to include frequently accessed sites such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Skype, stifling the ability for millions to interact with those inside and outside of Iran.*
Limiting Access:*Through a 2006 law, Iranians have limited access to broadband Internet, and internet speeds are further slowed during* times for heightened public discourse, to include elections, planned protests, or other major national events that might lead to public assembly.*
Suspending Access to the Internet: During the past year, the government has announced its intention to create a “National Intranet” to better control and monitor the* flow of information.*To prevent Iranian citizens from accessing content outside the country, Iran took the draconian step of blocking the most common form of secure connection (SSL)* used by millions of web services and businesses — preventing an estimated 30 million Iranians from using e-mail or Skype to connect to the outside world.
Creating a Culture of Fear:
*Through threatening* tactics and harsh laws, Iran’s government has created a culture of fear among Internet users that causes them to self-censor or to avoid using the internet altogether.* Recent examples include:*
Scare Tactics:*Regime elements have created a so-called “Cyber Army” of up to 15,000 internet “enforcers.”* In August 2011, the Iranian Cyber Army created a fake email certificate authority, exposing the personal details of more than 400,000 email account holders. NGOs report that authorities occasionally stopped arriving citizens at the Tehran International Airport and asked them to log into their YouTube and Facebook accounts, sometimes forcing them to delete information.*
Legal Measures: The Cyber Crime Act of 2009 allows the government to prosecute Iranians for crimes such as disseminating information likely to agitate the public and insulting the Supreme Leader.*Laws are arbitrarily applied based on enforcers’ interests.*
Spying in Internet Cafes:*According to reports, Internet cafes are required to record the personal information for each user as well as the date, time, IP address, and addresses of websites visited.*
Tracking and Targeting: Reports also suggest that security services are becoming more adept at using citizens’ own technology against them, tracking opposition figures for harassment and abuse.*Iranians are increasingly concerned that using devices to connect to one another will expose themselves and their associates to retribution by the government.*
Persecuting Foreign Broadcasters
Iran engages in a systemic campaign to prevent news, entertainment, and opinions from reaching media that is not subject to Iranian government control.* This includes:*
Jamming: Iran jams or interferes with foreign broadcasts from around the world, misusing satellite equipment to simultaneously block dozens of channels on international satellites.* Recently, Iran helped Syria jam Al-Jazeera’s coverage of protests and the Syrian regime’s bloody crackdown. Ironically, Iran uses the same satellites and frequencies to broadcast its own news and ideology worldwide, in more than 10 languages and on more than 25 channels.*
Outlawing foreign information: The Iranian regime outlawed the ownership of satellite dishes, criminalizing owners of even these most basic information tools.*Furthermore, Iranians simply trying to submit questions or send information to foreign broadcasters by SMS messages receive a menacing auto-text back from the Iranian government threatening them with imprisonment.*
Intimidation: Most recently, Iran arrested and harassed the family member of a reporter associated with BBC’s Persian Service and has continued to harass other Iranians supposedly linked to BBC. However, authorities also harass and threaten advertisers on satellite channels broadcasting into Iran, and they routinely imprison journalists, bloggers and free speech advocates.*Saeed Malekpour, a web programmer, along with at least two other Iranian “net-izens,” currently sits on death row on trumped-up
charges.*
Iran became a prison for them, ahmadinejad became the dictator
Controlling the Internet:
As more citizens use the Internet as a source for news and political debate, the government has responded by:
Monitoring and filtering Internet content: Iran routinely blocks access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networking sites, blog platforms, photo or video-exchange websites, and other sites related to politics and human rights.*Recent reports indicate that Iran has blocked over 5 million websites, to include frequently accessed sites such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Skype, stifling the ability for millions to interact with those inside and outside of Iran.*
Limiting Access:*Through a 2006 law, Iranians have limited access to broadband Internet, and internet speeds are further slowed during* times for heightened public discourse, to include elections, planned protests, or other major national events that might lead to public assembly.*
Suspending Access to the Internet: During the past year, the government has announced its intention to create a “National Intranet” to better control and monitor the* flow of information.*To prevent Iranian citizens from accessing content outside the country, Iran took the draconian step of blocking the most common form of secure connection (SSL)* used by millions of web services and businesses — preventing an estimated 30 million Iranians from using e-mail or Skype to connect to the outside world.
Creating a Culture of Fear:
*Through threatening* tactics and harsh laws, Iran’s government has created a culture of fear among Internet users that causes them to self-censor or to avoid using the internet altogether.* Recent examples include:*
Scare Tactics:*Regime elements have created a so-called “Cyber Army” of up to 15,000 internet “enforcers.”* In August 2011, the Iranian Cyber Army created a fake email certificate authority, exposing the personal details of more than 400,000 email account holders. NGOs report that authorities occasionally stopped arriving citizens at the Tehran International Airport and asked them to log into their YouTube and Facebook accounts, sometimes forcing them to delete information.*
Legal Measures: The Cyber Crime Act of 2009 allows the government to prosecute Iranians for crimes such as disseminating information likely to agitate the public and insulting the Supreme Leader.*Laws are arbitrarily applied based on enforcers’ interests.*
Spying in Internet Cafes:*According to reports, Internet cafes are required to record the personal information for each user as well as the date, time, IP address, and addresses of websites visited.*
Tracking and Targeting: Reports also suggest that security services are becoming more adept at using citizens’ own technology against them, tracking opposition figures for harassment and abuse.*Iranians are increasingly concerned that using devices to connect to one another will expose themselves and their associates to retribution by the government.*
Persecuting Foreign Broadcasters
Iran engages in a systemic campaign to prevent news, entertainment, and opinions from reaching media that is not subject to Iranian government control.* This includes:*
Jamming: Iran jams or interferes with foreign broadcasts from around the world, misusing satellite equipment to simultaneously block dozens of channels on international satellites.* Recently, Iran helped Syria jam Al-Jazeera’s coverage of protests and the Syrian regime’s bloody crackdown. Ironically, Iran uses the same satellites and frequencies to broadcast its own news and ideology worldwide, in more than 10 languages and on more than 25 channels.*
Outlawing foreign information: The Iranian regime outlawed the ownership of satellite dishes, criminalizing owners of even these most basic information tools.*Furthermore, Iranians simply trying to submit questions or send information to foreign broadcasters by SMS messages receive a menacing auto-text back from the Iranian government threatening them with imprisonment.*
Intimidation: Most recently, Iran arrested and harassed the family member of a reporter associated with BBC’s Persian Service and has continued to harass other Iranians supposedly linked to BBC. However, authorities also harass and threaten advertisers on satellite channels broadcasting into Iran, and they routinely imprison journalists, bloggers and free speech advocates.*Saeed Malekpour, a web programmer, along with at least two other Iranian “net-izens,” currently sits on death row on trumped-up
charges.*
