(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Shahroudi, RSF protested the closure of 400 cybercafes in Tehran. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard asked Shahroudi to “reverse this decision.” “The cybercafes were an easy means to communicate with those outside Iran and to be informed via foreign websites. In closing them down, […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Shahroudi, RSF protested the closure of 400 cybercafes in Tehran. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard asked Shahroudi to “reverse this decision.” “The cybercafes were an easy means to communicate with those outside Iran and to be informed via foreign websites. In closing them down, the hardliners show once again that they want to prevent Iranian citizens and especially the youth from being freely informed,” he added. The organisation recalled that, on 9 May 2001, two students contributing to the student magazine “Kavir”, were arrested (see IFEX alert of 14 May 2001). RSF considers Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to be one of the world’s thirty worst enemies of press freedom. Twenty-three journalists are behind bars, making Iran the largest prison for journalists in the world.
According to information collected by RSF, about 400 cybercafes were closed down between 8 and 13 May in Tehran. The Iranian authorities gave an ultimatum to the cybercafes to obtain a “work permit and a licence to operate on the Internet.” In the case of the conservative-run trade union for computer and business-machine operators, the police can shut them down for noncompliance. After the 1997 election of President Mohammed Khatami, hundreds of cybercafes flourished in Tehran.
In Iran, control of the Internet occurs on several levels. First, the Ministry of Information manages the government’s Internet service provider (ISP), the Data Communication Company of Iran (DCI). The DCI then filters (or attempts to filter) pornographic sites and opposition sites based in or outside of Iran. Finally, private ISPs, which must be approved by the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Islamic Orientation, also have a filtering system for sites and e-mail.
Moreover, each Iranian Internet user must sign a written agreement when signing up for an Internet connection, which states that they will not surf non-Islamic sites.
On 28 February, RSF, in collaboration with the magazine “Transfert”, issued a report titled “The enemies of the Internet – Impediments to the circulation of information on the Internet”, in which a chapter is dedicated to Iran. The report is available on the RSF website: www.press-freedom.org
