August 06, 2021
The Majlis is pushing forward a bill intended to put a regime stranglehold on the internet by making major social media firms like Instagram stop providing services in Iran.
The bill would require companies that want to operate in Iran to meet 14 standards none of which foreign firms are likely to be willing to meet.
Most importantly, the firms would have to make the names and addresses of all their Iranian subscribers available to the Iranian government.
Initially scheduled for parliamentary discussion July 26, a review of the controversial “Bill for the Protection of the Rights of Cyberspace Users” was suspended as the country was roiled with protest, only to be referred July 28 to a Majlis committee that has the authority to enact legislation, albeit temporarily, without a full vote on the Majlis floor.
According to Article 85 of Iran’s Constitution, the Majlis can delegate final legislative power to its own committees “whenever necessary.” Once approved by the Guardian Council, the bill would be enforced throughout the country for a test period, which has not yet been specified, although the maximum is five years.
It isn’t clear just how threatening the legislation is. Iranians would still presumably be able to bypass regime restrictions by using VPNs, as masses of Iranians already do. The main impact may well be on Iranian business firms that use Instagram to process order.
According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), the bill imposes stricter limits on internet usage in Iran, allows state security agencies to surveil citizens more easily, and severely limits the use of popular foreign apps and online services.
Article 9 of the bill calls for a task force composed of military and intelligence agencies to control internet access in the country. Chaired by the head of the National Center for Cyberspace, which was established by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi, the task force is composed of representatives from the Armed Forces General Headquarters, Pasdar Intelligence Organization, Ministry of Intelligence, Ministry of Communications, Passive Defense Organization and the Judiciary.
The bill aims to allow these groups “to make necessary decisions on the security of communications and information as well as manage the country’s internal and external traffic through secure border gateways.”
Many of the world’s most-used apps and online services are already banned in Iran, yet this bill aims to restrict access still further. Article 12 targets “influential foreign providers of basic services” (such as Gmail, Google, Instagram, etc.), stating they should be required to name an official representative in Iran “and follow [state] guidelines” within four months after the bill becomes law, or else they would be blocked.
Instagram is the only major social media outlet that is not already blocked. And it has become a major tool for Iranian businesses. The law proposes replacing Instagram with a domestic app such as Rubica. According to a recent survey conducted by the Iranian Students Polling Agency (ISPA), 53 percent of Iranians use Instagram. The survey reported the most used social network is WhatsApp, used by 71 percent of Iranians despite being blocked, followed by Instagram (53 percent) and Telegram (40 percent). Instagram and WhatsApp are both owned by Facebook.
CHRI says the legislation would deny millions of Iranians access to major online services without circumvention tools that enable users to access blocked sites such as virtual private networks (VPNs), which hide a user’s identity. Article 33 of the bill also prohibits the sale of VPNs.
Article 17 allocates faster internet speeds to domestic networks that are heavily censored by the security establishment, and which enable easy state access into accounts for surveillance purposes. Article 22 bans all government offices from using foreign networks for emails and other basic services.
CHRI said, “The proposed internet bill would not only violate Iranians’ right to access information, it would also severely hamper business operations in the country, as many firms are heavily reliant on foreign tools, services, and technologies for their operations, as well as other sectors that rely on online information and exchange, such as science, medicine, and education.