Freedom on the Net 2011, released last week by the Washington DC-based, civil liberties and pro-democracy nonprofit Freedom House, assessed the sovereignty of Internet users in 37 countries.
Iran, which had been ranked above China, Tunisia and Cuba in 2009, fell to last place with a score of 89 out of 100 (100 being the least free). At the top of the list was Estonia (10), followed by the United States (13) and Germany (16).
By failing in the three categories examined—users’ obstacles to Internet access, limitations on content, and violation of user rights—Iran became the most oppressive nation for the Internet in 2011, asserts Freedom House. From impeding infrastructure to blocking content and creating fear, the regime has taken every measure to mold Internet use to its desires, the report says.
The previous president, Mohammad Khatami, built upon his predecessor’s plan to increase Internet connection points in Iran and with the rest of the world, increasing the number of users from 625,000 to several million. But since Mahmud Ahmadi-nejad became president in 2005, officials have been actively impeding development, says Freedom House.
By March 2009, authorities had slowed the Internet connection for many private users to 56 kilobytes per second, or about 1/60 the speed of the average connection in the US, making it difficult to do basic activities like checking email or browsing the web.
By December 2010, websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Flickr, used to share media and network, were all barred. Now, within hours, Iran’s centralized filtering system can block a website from everyone in the country, the report said.
The efforts of Internet users in Iran to create filters to bypass bans have been answered with a reported allocation of $500 million in the 2010-2011 state budget.
In July 2009, the government enacted the Computer Crime Law, which legally allowed the Committee in Charge of Determining Unauthorized Websites to restrict any questionable content, effectively banning anything around political opposition, women’s rights, homosexual rights, and other content that may be insulting to the regime or religious figures. The vaguely worded law, like many other similar statutes, provides no clear legal definitions, giving officials bountiful flexibility to decide what is offensive, Freedom House said.
Freedom House says the vice president of the Telecommunications Company of Iran affirmed that 200 to 300 websites are being added to the filtering each day. The government has admitted to hacking into opposition websites, often through the Iranian Cyber Army, a group that was recently confirmed to be part of the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards).
Freedom House says self-censorship has played a considerable role in curbing Internet activism over the last few years.
Bloggers have been threatened, arrested, tortured and convicted with harsh sentences. One blogger, Omid-Reza Mirsayafi, “died under questionable circumstances,” said Freedom House. After the 2009 presidential election, out of fear of retaliation, 1,500 online journalists and bloggers stopped posting about politics under their real name or stopped all together. A large number have sought political asylum in Turkey and elsewhere.
To fill the gaps left behind by the blocked content, the Islamic Republic has been disseminating its own propaganda. With 400 news websites connected either directly or indirectly to the government, some analysts say this is the most effective way for the regime to influence what news the public can access on the Internet.
