Ministry.
39
ISPs in which the government owns a
share, such as the popular Pars Online, reportedly filter some sites at their own discretion over
and above what is required by the regulations.
ONI testing results
ONI conducted testing on seven ISPs: APN,
Dana Fajr, Datak, Jahan Nama Co., Pars Online,
Shatel, and Tarashe. ONI testing confirmed that
Iran employs the greatest degree of filtering of all
the countries tested, in both scope and depth of
content. Iran uses a filtering proxy that displays a
blockpage when accessing blocked content.
Heavily filtered types of content include pornography, provocative attire, and circumvention
tools, which is characteristic of states that use
commercial software such as SmartFilter. ONI
testing also found significant blocking of content
related to homosexuality, particularly if it had any
connection to Iran; Farsi-language news sites;
and opposition political sites.
A majority of circumvention tools were
blocked by all ISPs, including www.peoples
proxy.com and www.guardster.com. Compared
with anonymizers and proxies, filtering of
other Internet tools was more selective but
nevertheless occurred in all categories tested.
Certain multimedia sharing sites, such as
www.metacafe.com and www.photobucket.com,
were completely blocked, while others were less
consistently filtered: the popular photo-sharing
Web site Flickr was blocked on four ISPs at time
of testing, while the video-sharing site YouTube
was blocked on only two. Also filtered in limited
numbers were social networking sites, but at the
time of testing popular social networking sites
such as Myspace and Orkut were universally
available. Some Farsi-language forums for discussing movies (www.aghaghi.com) and music
(www.roozi.com) were also filtered.
Only a limited number of search engines
were filtered, and then, only on some ISPs.
Among them were www.163.com and the
Chinese site www.sina.com. However, on certain
ISPs—including Shatel, Datak, and Pars Online,
keywords in URL paths were blocked, most often
affecting queries in search engines (e.g.,
http://128.100.171.12/key.php?word=torture).
Of blog-hosting sites tested, only one,
www.livejournal.com, was blocked by all ISPs. A
limited number of other sites, including
www.xanga.com and the blog search engine
www.technorati.com, were blocked by multiple
ISPs. Instead, filtering targeted individual blogs.
A substantial number, though not a majority, of
individual blogs hosted by Blogspot and others
were filtered; these blogs spanned subjects such
as religion, women’s rights, political reform, and
reproductive health. All seven ISPs chose to filter
the same individual blogs, which all happened to
be hosted on Blogspot. Very few of the individual
blogs hosted on Persian-language services,
such as Blogfa and www.persianblog.com, were
filtered by any ISP.
Iran is among the most successful blockers
of pornographic Web sites in countries where
ONI conducted testing. Esmail Radkani, of Iran’s
quasi-official Information Technology Company,
claimed in a recent interview that 90 percent
of the ten million filtered sites were deemed to
contain “immoral” content. 40 This assertion was
supported by ONI’s tests. With very few exceptions, all of the pornography and provocative
attire sites tested were blocked by all ISPs.
Further, no pornography site tested was blocked
by fewer than five ISPs. The government does not
filter content regarding drugs, alcohol, gambling,
or dating as universally, though a substantial
number of sites in these categories are blocked
as well.
Outside of “immoral” content, independent
and dissenting voices are filtered across a range
of issues pertaining to Iran, including political
reform, criticism of the government, reporting on
human rights issues, and minority and women’s
rights. Filtering in these areas, across nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), blogs, and
thematic Web sites, is inconsistent and limited
296
Country Summaries
39
ISPs in which the government owns a
share, such as the popular Pars Online, reportedly filter some sites at their own discretion over
and above what is required by the regulations.
ONI testing results
ONI conducted testing on seven ISPs: APN,
Dana Fajr, Datak, Jahan Nama Co., Pars Online,
Shatel, and Tarashe. ONI testing confirmed that
Iran employs the greatest degree of filtering of all
the countries tested, in both scope and depth of
content. Iran uses a filtering proxy that displays a
blockpage when accessing blocked content.
Heavily filtered types of content include pornography, provocative attire, and circumvention
tools, which is characteristic of states that use
commercial software such as SmartFilter. ONI
testing also found significant blocking of content
related to homosexuality, particularly if it had any
connection to Iran; Farsi-language news sites;
and opposition political sites.
A majority of circumvention tools were
blocked by all ISPs, including www.peoples
proxy.com and www.guardster.com. Compared
with anonymizers and proxies, filtering of
other Internet tools was more selective but
nevertheless occurred in all categories tested.
Certain multimedia sharing sites, such as
www.metacafe.com and www.photobucket.com,
were completely blocked, while others were less
consistently filtered: the popular photo-sharing
Web site Flickr was blocked on four ISPs at time
of testing, while the video-sharing site YouTube
was blocked on only two. Also filtered in limited
numbers were social networking sites, but at the
time of testing popular social networking sites
such as Myspace and Orkut were universally
available. Some Farsi-language forums for discussing movies (www.aghaghi.com) and music
(www.roozi.com) were also filtered.
Only a limited number of search engines
were filtered, and then, only on some ISPs.
Among them were www.163.com and the
Chinese site www.sina.com. However, on certain
ISPs—including Shatel, Datak, and Pars Online,
keywords in URL paths were blocked, most often
affecting queries in search engines (e.g.,
http://128.100.171.12/key.php?word=torture).
Of blog-hosting sites tested, only one,
www.livejournal.com, was blocked by all ISPs. A
limited number of other sites, including
www.xanga.com and the blog search engine
www.technorati.com, were blocked by multiple
ISPs. Instead, filtering targeted individual blogs.
A substantial number, though not a majority, of
individual blogs hosted by Blogspot and others
were filtered; these blogs spanned subjects such
as religion, women’s rights, political reform, and
reproductive health. All seven ISPs chose to filter
the same individual blogs, which all happened to
be hosted on Blogspot. Very few of the individual
blogs hosted on Persian-language services,
such as Blogfa and www.persianblog.com, were
filtered by any ISP.
Iran is among the most successful blockers
of pornographic Web sites in countries where
ONI conducted testing. Esmail Radkani, of Iran’s
quasi-official Information Technology Company,
claimed in a recent interview that 90 percent
of the ten million filtered sites were deemed to
contain “immoral” content. 40 This assertion was
supported by ONI’s tests. With very few exceptions, all of the pornography and provocative
attire sites tested were blocked by all ISPs.
Further, no pornography site tested was blocked
by fewer than five ISPs. The government does not
filter content regarding drugs, alcohol, gambling,
or dating as universally, though a substantial
number of sites in these categories are blocked
as well.
Outside of “immoral” content, independent
and dissenting voices are filtered across a range
of issues pertaining to Iran, including political
reform, criticism of the government, reporting on
human rights issues, and minority and women’s
rights. Filtering in these areas, across nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), blogs, and
thematic Web sites, is inconsistent and limited
296
Country Summaries