ICHRI:

November 19, 2014—The Rouhani administration should use all its authority to end the government’s initiatives to restrict Iranians’ access to the Internet, immediately cease state efforts to monitor users’ online accounts, and end the prosecution of individuals for their peaceful online activities, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

In a 49-page report released today, Internet in Chains: The Front Line of State Repression in Iran, the Campaign reveals the technological initiatives, policies, and practices underway in Iran that will profoundly violate Iranians’ right to access information, freedom of speech, and right to privacy. It includes a detailed description of ongoing efforts to implement a National Internet.

(Download the report here)

“The Iranian government’s huge investment in the National Internet is motivated by its growing realization that as Internet users proliferate in Iran, the State’s grip on the social and cultural narrative inside the country is rapidly loosening,” said Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director of the Campaign.

“The rich diversity of Iranian life that has been revealed on social networks is deeply threatening to the rigid and sterile norms and values that the government and state media have imposed on the Iranian people for decades. The Internet terrifies Iran’s deep state,” he added.

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