Legal Case Filed Against Five Bloggers; Charges: Dissemination of Inappropriate Videos and Images

According to Hrana, five bloggers residing in Zarand County have been summoned to the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office on charges of what has been termed 'dissemination of inappropriate videos and images in cyberspace.' Reza Yaqoubi, the prosecutor of Zarand, stated in an interview with domestic media that a legal case has been filed against these five citizens. However, he did not mention the identities of these individuals or the specific charges against them. He claimed that through the Ethics Security Police, he became aware of the activities of these bloggers, alleging that they published 'images contrary to public morality and decency in cyberspace.' The prosecutor further stated that these bloggers were informed of their charges by the investigator of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office and that security measures have been issued for them. This judicial official did not refer to the content of these blogs but mentioned that earning income and advertising in cyberspace must be within the framework of 'observing laws and respecting religious beliefs and convictions.' He also announced the formation of a 'cyberspace monitoring task force' in the prosecutor's office of this county, stating that this task force is 'to control this space and especially monitor the activities of election candidates.' It is noteworthy that Zarand County has been active during the widespread nationwide protests of 2022 and has published numerous labor news on social media. Previously, the Attorney General of the country ordered action against 'content contrary' to the views of the Islamic Republic following comments from social media users regarding the explosions in Kerman, and media reported the arrest of a student in this context. According to Iranian media, Mohammad Mohammadi Azad, the Attorney General, instructed all public and revolutionary prosecutors in Iran to 'take decisive action against the production, dissemination, and republishing of false and illegal content with criminal descriptions in some media and social networks.' This judicial official of the Islamic Republic labeled some dissenting comments as 'disrespectful' from individuals who he claims are 'ignorant and adversarial.' Meanwhile, the 'Criminal Content Identification Task Force' of the judiciary has criminalized the activities of social media users under various pretexts using the provisions of the 'Protection Plan' and 'violation of user privacy within the framework of the seventh development plan.' In recent years, dozens of popular social media bloggers have been arrested and detained under the authority of this task force on the pretext of not adhering to ethical standards and disseminating criminal content. Reporters Without Borders ranked Iran 177th out of 180 countries in terms of freedom of expression in its May report. In the 2023 ranking, only Vietnam, China, and North Korea have a worse situation than Iran. According to this report, the suppression of the protests of 2022 has lowered Iran's rankings in the 'social environment' and 'judicial environment' indices.