Jannati Reports on Khamenei's Meeting for 'Action' Regarding Cyberspace

The head of the Assembly of Experts, Ahmad Jannati, announced a 'several-hour' meeting between the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and a number of 'experts' in cyberspace, adding that following this meeting, 'an action will be taken.' Jannati also stated, 'Cyberspace is a calamity that has befallen us, and if they had controlled cyberspace earlier, we wouldn't have reached this point. I have said that we cannot completely stop cyberspace, but we can slow it down.' According to a report on Thursday (January 25) by Tasnim News Agency, Jannati made this statement during a joint session of the Assembly of Experts' board and its internal commissions. As Jannati announced, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei held a 'several-hour meeting on Tuesday with a number of cyberspace specialists, and important discussions took place regarding these issues.' He did not refer to the content of this meeting but added that 'an action is to be taken. However, the important thing is that we must know what to do and who should do it.' The head of the Assembly of Experts, without mentioning details, added that 'we must change those who are incapable and utilize capable individuals. Therefore, transformations must occur in this organization.' Traditional clerics and the conservative faction in Iran have always viewed the internet and social networks with skepticism, referring to them as a place that not only threatens the family structure but is also used by the 'enemy.' Jannati further stated that 'they could have controlled it earlier and prevented its speed from increasing... We cannot completely stop it; that is impossible, but we can reduce it.' He also referred to China and Japan, expressing that these two countries also 'control cyberspace, and if they hadn't controlled it, the events that occurred in Iran would have been a hundred times worse there.' He considered the existing 'security' in these two countries to be due to 'internet control' and added that based on this model, 'this can also be done in Iran.' The head of the Assembly of Experts quoted unnamed individuals as saying, 'Of course, it is said that it is a bit late, and we did not prevent the recent events, leading to unrest.' Following the recent protests in over a hundred cities in Iran, which resulted in more than 20 deaths and thousands of arrests, social networks like Instagram and Telegram were filtered, but after a while, these two networks were unblocked again. The blocking of Telegram in Iran led to protests from many human rights organizations, and the U.S. government imposed new sanctions against several Iranian individuals and entities, including the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, the Cyber Defense Center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and several other organizations for their role in limiting Iranian users' access to the internet and international media. After the recent protests, some officials of the Islamic Republic have called for replacing foreign messaging apps with domestic ones, and the secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace announced the council's resolution to provide a five billion tomans interest-free loan to the founders of these messaging apps. A report by the Human Rights Campaign in Iran on the outlook for new restrictions against cyberspace indicates that Ahmad Jannati has called for changes in the organization responsible for controlling cyberspace in Iran, while the Human Rights Campaign in Iran has reported in a 75-page report an increase in the Islamic Republic's 'capability' to 'block,' 'censor,' and 'monitor the internet' in Iran. This report, published on January 10, titled 'Gates of Control; Internet Policy in the Hassan Rouhani Government,' examines the role of Rouhani's government, the institutions under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and intelligence and security organizations in limiting Iranian users' access to the internet and interfering in their privacy. The report evaluates the intensification of internet restrictions in Iran following ten days of protests in various cities criticizing rising prices and the dire economic situation as a clear and widespread example of the implementation of restrictive internet policies by the Islamic Republic's officials. The Human Rights Campaign in Iran states in its report that 'the recent unrest shows that a decade of Iran's efforts to control the internet within the country is coming to fruition.' The report also refers to a 'significant organizational change' in the country that 'deeply harms access to the internet and privacy in Iran.' This change, according to the Human Rights Campaign in Iran, is the consolidation of 'control over internet policies in Iran and the development of the country's telecommunications infrastructure' under the supervision of 'security organizations and institutions under the authority' of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The campaign adds that 'in the realm of macro policies, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran has effectively limited the government's hand in macro internet policymaking by monopolizing the authority to determine internet policies for the Supreme Council of Cyberspace.' The report also mentions the role of the judiciary and some other security and intelligence organizations in the Islamic Republic in limiting the internet in Iran, noting that the 'working group for determining the criteria for criminal content' also plays an important role in restricting users' access to information. The campaign also warns that Iran's national internet network 'without any oversight or judicial safeguards' could be 'used by the government's security and intelligence agencies to hack private users' accounts without any consequences.' The report further states that 'Iran's national internet network also allows the government to filter and manipulate online content more effectively and direct users to sites that provide government-approved and sometimes fabricated content.'