Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the new government to increase censorship on the nation’s cyberspace while meeting the new cabinet on Tuesday. Khamenei stressed that legal measures have to be applied to cyberspace saying that if there are no laws in this regard then they should be made into law and adhered to strictly.
Khamenei’s call was made at a time when the president of Iran Mr Pezeshkian had retorted to his campaign promises to lift the long-held restrictions on internet connection in Iran.
In recent years, Iran has been strict with the usage of the internet, with most social networking sites in the country shut down, including Facebook and X also referred to as Twitter.
After the people’s protests against the fuel price increase in 2019, and after mass protests and street demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in 2022, the government resorted to tighter restrictions and banned the use of communication applications such as WhatsApp and Telegram, in addition to various social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
However, with these restrictions,, many young Iranians have resorted to the use of VPNs to overcome these blocks and be able to gain access to the internet. In his speech, Khamenei cited recent experience connected with the arrest of the Russian-born founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov in France and insisted on strict implementation of the governance of cyberspace.
He also harshly spoke about the regulation of the internet saying that “” violation of governance is not acceptable.
Iran has in the past said that it would allow only apps such as WhatsApp and Instagram to operate if they were to have an advocate in the country. In this regard, Meta – the company owning these platforms – announced that it has no intention of creating an office in the Islamic Republic of Iran.