Cyber Police Chief: Scholars Should Strengthen Ethical Foundations Regarding Internet Use

The head of the Cyber Police, FATA, has reported the activity of over 170,000 Persian channels on Telegram and simultaneously requested scholars to strengthen ethical foundations in the use of cyberspace based on the principle of 'enjoining good and forbidding wrong'. According to Nasim Online's report on Sunday, January 1, Major General Kamal Hadianfar announced during a visit to the FATA police in Qom province that over 29 million users of Iran's cyberspace are young people. He identified most of the owners of the more than 170,000 active Persian channels on Telegram as 'young people'. Hadianfar stated that 'the social media space is filled with false and contradictory news', adding that much of this news 'in the display of text, images, and videos can shape the path of social deviations for youth and families'. He justified this by asking 'scholars and thinkers' to 'follow the principle of enjoining good and forbidding wrong to strengthen the fundamental foundations in the fields of culture, religion, and Islamic ethics in the use of cyberspace'. According to this police official, for every individual to be able to be 'a police officer to protect their religion, homeland, property, and honor' alongside cyber police forces, it is essential to use 'religious teachings, including enjoining good and forbidding wrong as social control by each person'. Hadianfar further added that 'enemies have targeted the religiosity of the Iranian people and are trying to culturally attack our compatriots in cyberspace by changing beliefs and ethical values'. For this reason, he has asked 'scholars and clerics' to 'enter cyberspace more than before with expertise and authority'. Previously, the Supreme Leader referred to 'cyberspace' as a 'real battlefield' and added that 'clergymen and students must be armed and ready to confront doubts and erroneous and deviant thoughts'. In this context, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi emphasized the need to 'prevent the spread of unhealthy cyberspaces', claiming that 'over 90% of the cyberspace in the world' has turned into a 'cesspool'. On December 7, Mohammad-Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of Iran, severely criticized the performance of the members of the working group determining criminal instances in cyberspace, accusing this committee of failing to deal with 'anti-religious networks' on the internet. He urged the members of this working group to cooperate with FATA police to combat what he called the 'polluted space' in social networks. These warnings come as many officials and senior figures of the Islamic Republic, including the office of Ayatollah Khamenei, maintain an active presence in social networks and cyberspace despite restrictions on access to cyberspace for Iranian users. President Hassan Rouhani has previously emphasized the special importance of cyberspace and, during the first meeting of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace in 2016, called for 'more effective and appropriate steps' to be taken in this area. On April 8 of this year, he also emphasized in a meeting with the Minister of Communications and senior officials in this field that 'corruption must be eradicated at its roots, and one of the ways to combat corruption is to open matters in cyberspace'. In this context, concerns about internet content and freedom in cyberspace continue, with social media channels having more than 5,000 members 'required to obtain licenses'. Jafar Sobhani stated that establishing an independent internet is a religious duty. A center affiliated with the IRGC reported the arrest and summons of managers of 450 pages and channels on social networks. The Attorney General of Iran called for the establishment of a 'cyberspace crisis headquarters'. Montazeri stated that 'every week we deal with hundreds or thousands of centers of virtual corruption'. Makarem Shirazi reiterated that 'over 90% of cyberspace is a cesspool'. Khamenei stated that 'revolutionary movement is not possible without the continuous presence of the clergy'.