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Iranwire – The London-based ARTICLE 19 media freedom organization warns that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s recent call to further tighten internet restrictions represents a “renewed attack” on rights and freedoms, and signals a “new phase in digital repression” in Iran.
Addressing judicial officials during a meeting on June 27 amid what ARTICLE 19 described as an “already alarming deterioration of online spaces,” Khamenei called on the judiciary to purge dissenting voices from the internet.
He argued that the Islamic Republic’s constitution puts the judiciary in charge of “preserving public rights,” which he claimed includes preserving the “psychological security of the society.”
The 83-year-old leader reprimanded the judiciary for its lack of “planning and discipline” in handling crimes related to undermining public rights and demanded this “legal void” to be immediately addressed.
“This marks a particularly significant turn for an already heavily controlled and restricted internet policy in the Islamic Republic, as the Supreme Leader is the ultimate arbiter of the direction of policy and repression,” ARTICLE 19 said in a statement on July 6.
Iranian authorities unleashed brutal force against months-long nationwide protests sparked by the September 2022 death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. More than 520 people were killed and over 19,000 were unlawfully detained, including nearly 100 journalists, activists say. Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.
As part of their efforts to control the uprising, the authorities have curbed internet speed, clamped down on censorship circumvention tools and rolled out schemes that provide regime supporters with increased access to the internet.
Highlighting that online rights and other fundamental freedoms “go hand in hand,” ARTICLE 19 urged the international community to “consider these developments in any interactions with Iranian authorities,” and called on Iranian state institutions to “align their policies with international standards of human rights, and particularly freedom of expression online.”
The group also said that technology companies must “consider the exacerbating dangers to people who use their services – both when accessing these services as well as when they are persecuted for using their services under these aggressive moves against freedoms online.”
