Filterban: The 'Yaftar' Company Has Submitted a User Monitoring Plan to the Prosecutor's Office

The website 'Filterban' has reported on a 'confidential' plan by the 'Yaftar' company submitted to the Prosecutor's Office, which aims to provide foreign platform services through a simulated version and uses phishing to collect user information and statistics on visited pages. The Supreme Council of Cyberspace's resolution has allowed the use of shells that enable access to popular filtered platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Telegram. 'Filterban' states that in emails sent by the Yaftar company to the Attorney General's Office, the 'new generation proxy' plan directs users to a simulated version of a foreign site and accesses their information. The Filterban website is a project aimed at gaining a better understanding of Iran's internet policies and digital rights. 'Filterban' has pointed out that unauthorized interception of people's communication content and storing it without user consent is considered a crime under Articles 730 and 740 of the Islamic Penal Code, thus deeming the 'Yaftar' filtering system in conflict with the laws of the Islamic Republic. The 'Yaftar Research and Computing Company' collaborates with the working group for determining criminal content to design and use tools for 'crawling' leading global search engines to identify and censor 'criminal' content as defined by the group. This company also collaborates with the Attorney General's Office to block VPNs. The fact-checking group 'Factnameh' published a report in Bahman 1402 listing the names and profiles of companies contracted for internet censorship filtering in Iran. According to this report, Yaftar, in addition to filtering, collaborates with the Islamic Republic's Attorney General and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in image analysis and facial recognition. 'Factnameh' noted that Yaftar has also provided services for identifying instances of bad hijab in cyberspace to the Attorney General's Office and the committee for determining criminal content. The United States announced sanctions against 29 officials and entities on the first anniversary of the killing of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini while in the custody of the Guidance Patrol, with the 'Yaftar Research and Computing Company' being one of them. When discussing control, repression, and internet shutdowns in Iran, many often recall the name 'Abar Arvan'. The Abar Arvan company is one of the main arms of the Islamic Republic's officials in implementing internet restriction plans in Iran. In Khordad 1402, the United States sanctioned the technology company 'Abar Arvan', two of its founders, and an affiliated company. The European Union also sanctioned 'Abar Arvan' on 23 Aban 1401 in response to the violent repression of protesters against the killing of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini and its role in internet censorship, but removed it from its sanctions list on 16 Farvardin 1403.