will be. Options include continuing with the current dual-location filtering system or
switching to either a system in which all filtering is carried out at a central point or
to a distributed but centrally coordinated filtering system. Regardless of the method
chosen for implementation, it appears that Iran is firmly on the path toward a centralized filtering system under the control of the government, as carried out in Saudi
Arabia, for example.
The Iranian filtering system continues to strengthen and deepen. In addition to
targeting ‘‘immoral’’ content on the Internet, independent and dissenting voices are
filtered across a range of issues, including political reform, criticism of the government,
reporting on human rights issues, and minority and women’s rights. A notable change
in the scope of filtering in Iran over the past several years has been an expansion of
political filtering and blocking of human rights organizations, particularly targeting
the women’s rights movement in Iran. Blocking orders issued by CCDUS in May 2008
added many new Web sites to the blocking lists. These included numerous Web sites
and blogs of women’s rights and human rights activists in addition to several wellknown journalists, including www.roozmaregiha2.blogfa.com and pargas1.blogfa.com.
Women’s rights Web sites in Farsi, such as www.we-change.org and feministschool
.com, are consistently blocked in Iran.
A prominent example of targeted political filtering is the blocking in February
2009 of www.yaarinews.ir, a Web site created for the planned election campaign of
former president Mohammad Khatami. A Web site of the reformist coalition, www
.baharestaniran.com, was blocked in March 2008. The blocking of Facebook in May
2009 has proven to be particularly controversial in Iran. Many believe that supporters
of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were behind the blocking orders, as a reformist
candidate for president, MirHossein Mousavi, had been using Facebook for political
organizing. 56 Ahmadinejad has since denied any involvement in the decision to block
Facebook. 57 The blocking of the popular social network Web site was reversed several
days later after strong popular opposition to the blocking in Iran. 58 Facebook had
been blocked in the past: ONI testing showed that it was blocked in Fall 2008, with
access to the Web site allowed again in February 2009. 59
The role of speech restrictions in the political realm are also evident in the guidelines
passed down from SCRC to CCDUS in April 2009 that defined allowable speech during
the 2009 presidential elections for Web sites and ISPs. These guidelines outlined 20
categories of prohibited speech, including ‘‘disrupting national unity’’ and ‘‘creating
negative feelings toward the Islamic government.’’ 60
Independent media Web sites offered only in English are inconsistently blocked,
though a number of prominent Western news Web sites have been blocked in Iran.
The Huffington Post and the Web site for Al-Arabiya (alarabiya.net) are blocked in
Iran. The New York Times, available in May 2009, has been blocked on several occasions
in the past. Global Voices, an international blog aggregator, was blocked in May 2009.
Iran
553
switching to either a system in which all filtering is carried out at a central point or
to a distributed but centrally coordinated filtering system. Regardless of the method
chosen for implementation, it appears that Iran is firmly on the path toward a centralized filtering system under the control of the government, as carried out in Saudi
Arabia, for example.
The Iranian filtering system continues to strengthen and deepen. In addition to
targeting ‘‘immoral’’ content on the Internet, independent and dissenting voices are
filtered across a range of issues, including political reform, criticism of the government,
reporting on human rights issues, and minority and women’s rights. A notable change
in the scope of filtering in Iran over the past several years has been an expansion of
political filtering and blocking of human rights organizations, particularly targeting
the women’s rights movement in Iran. Blocking orders issued by CCDUS in May 2008
added many new Web sites to the blocking lists. These included numerous Web sites
and blogs of women’s rights and human rights activists in addition to several wellknown journalists, including www.roozmaregiha2.blogfa.com and pargas1.blogfa.com.
Women’s rights Web sites in Farsi, such as www.we-change.org and feministschool
.com, are consistently blocked in Iran.
A prominent example of targeted political filtering is the blocking in February
2009 of www.yaarinews.ir, a Web site created for the planned election campaign of
former president Mohammad Khatami. A Web site of the reformist coalition, www
.baharestaniran.com, was blocked in March 2008. The blocking of Facebook in May
2009 has proven to be particularly controversial in Iran. Many believe that supporters
of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were behind the blocking orders, as a reformist
candidate for president, MirHossein Mousavi, had been using Facebook for political
organizing. 56 Ahmadinejad has since denied any involvement in the decision to block
Facebook. 57 The blocking of the popular social network Web site was reversed several
days later after strong popular opposition to the blocking in Iran. 58 Facebook had
been blocked in the past: ONI testing showed that it was blocked in Fall 2008, with
access to the Web site allowed again in February 2009. 59
The role of speech restrictions in the political realm are also evident in the guidelines
passed down from SCRC to CCDUS in April 2009 that defined allowable speech during
the 2009 presidential elections for Web sites and ISPs. These guidelines outlined 20
categories of prohibited speech, including ‘‘disrupting national unity’’ and ‘‘creating
negative feelings toward the Islamic government.’’ 60
Independent media Web sites offered only in English are inconsistently blocked,
though a number of prominent Western news Web sites have been blocked in Iran.
The Huffington Post and the Web site for Al-Arabiya (alarabiya.net) are blocked in
Iran. The New York Times, available in May 2009, has been blocked on several occasions
in the past. Global Voices, an international blog aggregator, was blocked in May 2009.
Iran
553