CHRI:

After banning the widely used Telegram messaging app, the Iranian government is once again deepening its censorship and suppression of internet use in the country by forcing government agencies to use domestic, state-approved online search engines.

The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned that these search engines, which were produced with state funding or state approval, provide censored and/or false information, and in some cases spread malware.

The internet and social media apps are heavily restricted and censored in Iran. Some 44 percent of the country’s 80-plus million people had access to the internet in 2016, according to the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU). As a result, Iranian state policies and technical initiatives have increasingly focused on strengthening state control over the internet.

Deputy Telecommunications Minister Rasoul Saraian announced on May 15 that all government agencies would soon be restricted to domestic search engines.

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