The Web sites of numerous international free-speech organizations are blocked, including rsf.org, epic.org, citizenlab.org, and eff.org. The Web sites of Amnesty International
and the OpenNet Initiative were not blocked in May 2009.
A higher proportion of independent media Web sites in Farsi are blocked than are
sites with English-language content. The BBC’s Persian service (www.bbc.co.uk/
persian) was blocked soon after its launch in January 2009. The introduction of this
new broadcast station was condemned by the Iranian government and declared to
be illegal. 61 In addition, Iranian.com, roozonline.com, and radiozamaneh.com are
among the independent sources of news and opinion that are blocked in Iran.
A popular Farsi social networking and independent news Web site, Balatarin.com,
was blocked in 2007, reportedly for a user-contributed post with a link to a Web site
that included a rumor of the death of Supreme Leader Ali Hoseyni Khamenei. Strident
objections by users to the blocking of Balatarin were not successful in reversing the
blocking decision, and Balatarin continues to be blocked.
The Web sites of several ethnic and religious minorities are blocked in Iran, including those associated with the Baha’i faith and Kurdish movements. Web sites that are
critical of Islam are widely blocked. A higher proportion of Web sites in Farsi related to
religious and minority rights are blocked than those in English.
The blocking of blogs in Iran is focused primarily on individual blogs. However, several blog-hosting services are blocked in their entirely, including www.livejournal.com
and www.xanga.com. Also, technorati.com and boingboing.com are blocked.
In fall 2008, the ONI tested a sample of approximately 8,800 blogs, drawing the
sample from the blogs in the Farsi blogosphere that had the highest number of links
to one another. 62 Of these, approximately 9 percent were found to be blocked by TCI.
A majority of the blogs that were blocked are associated with secular politics and
reformist viewpoints. However, blogs from the conservative and religious segments of
the blogosphere were blocked as well, several of which apparently included content
deemed to be too extreme. Further ONI analysis carried out over a sample of filtered
and unfiltered blogs displays a systematic targeting of blogs with oppositional views
but with substantial inconsistency; many blogs with solidly dissident views remain
unblocked, while other blogs without controversial content are blocked.
Several popular social networking Web sites are blocked in Iran, including MySpace
.com and Orkut.com. Prior to being blocked, Orkut was highly popular in Iran.
Among the more prominent social media Web sites, Flickr.com, www.bebo.com,
www.metacafe.com, www.photobucket.com, and delicious.com are all blocked. After
several episodes of blocking in the past, YouTube, one of the most popular destinations
for Iranian Internet users, was available in May 2009.
Consistent with one of the stated objectives of Iran’s filtering policy, pornographic
content is heavily filtered. Iran is highly successful in blocking pornography, blocking
a vast majority of the Web sites tested by ONI. Sites that include photographs depict554
Iran
and the OpenNet Initiative were not blocked in May 2009.
A higher proportion of independent media Web sites in Farsi are blocked than are
sites with English-language content. The BBC’s Persian service (www.bbc.co.uk/
persian) was blocked soon after its launch in January 2009. The introduction of this
new broadcast station was condemned by the Iranian government and declared to
be illegal. 61 In addition, Iranian.com, roozonline.com, and radiozamaneh.com are
among the independent sources of news and opinion that are blocked in Iran.
A popular Farsi social networking and independent news Web site, Balatarin.com,
was blocked in 2007, reportedly for a user-contributed post with a link to a Web site
that included a rumor of the death of Supreme Leader Ali Hoseyni Khamenei. Strident
objections by users to the blocking of Balatarin were not successful in reversing the
blocking decision, and Balatarin continues to be blocked.
The Web sites of several ethnic and religious minorities are blocked in Iran, including those associated with the Baha’i faith and Kurdish movements. Web sites that are
critical of Islam are widely blocked. A higher proportion of Web sites in Farsi related to
religious and minority rights are blocked than those in English.
The blocking of blogs in Iran is focused primarily on individual blogs. However, several blog-hosting services are blocked in their entirely, including www.livejournal.com
and www.xanga.com. Also, technorati.com and boingboing.com are blocked.
In fall 2008, the ONI tested a sample of approximately 8,800 blogs, drawing the
sample from the blogs in the Farsi blogosphere that had the highest number of links
to one another. 62 Of these, approximately 9 percent were found to be blocked by TCI.
A majority of the blogs that were blocked are associated with secular politics and
reformist viewpoints. However, blogs from the conservative and religious segments of
the blogosphere were blocked as well, several of which apparently included content
deemed to be too extreme. Further ONI analysis carried out over a sample of filtered
and unfiltered blogs displays a systematic targeting of blogs with oppositional views
but with substantial inconsistency; many blogs with solidly dissident views remain
unblocked, while other blogs without controversial content are blocked.
Several popular social networking Web sites are blocked in Iran, including MySpace
.com and Orkut.com. Prior to being blocked, Orkut was highly popular in Iran.
Among the more prominent social media Web sites, Flickr.com, www.bebo.com,
www.metacafe.com, www.photobucket.com, and delicious.com are all blocked. After
several episodes of blocking in the past, YouTube, one of the most popular destinations
for Iranian Internet users, was available in May 2009.
Consistent with one of the stated objectives of Iran’s filtering policy, pornographic
content is heavily filtered. Iran is highly successful in blocking pornography, blocking
a vast majority of the Web sites tested by ONI. Sites that include photographs depict554
Iran