Minister of Communications: We Have Negotiated to Lift the Twitter Ban

The Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Iran announced that the government of Hassan Rouhani has "negotiated" to lift the ban on Twitter, but the decision on this matter is up to the Working Group for Determining Criminal Content. Mahmoud Vaezi said in an interview with ILNA news agency on Sunday, April 20, that the government supports lifting the ban on "information networks" and that these networks were not banned during Hassan Rouhani's administration. He emphasized that these networks were banned during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and added that reopening them is not within the purview of the eleventh government but is the responsibility of the Working Group for Determining Criminal Content. Vaezi stated, "We have had negotiations on this matter, but the secretariat of this working group has not yet put this issue on its agenda." The Working Group for Determining Cyber Crimes, which has made decisions regarding filtering in recent years, is formed under a law passed in 2009 and operates under the supervision of the Attorney General. It includes representatives from the legislative and executive branches, along with representatives from state media, the police chief, the head of the Islamic Propaganda Organization, and a representative from the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. Abdolsamad Khorramabadi, the secretary of this working group, emphasized last year that "Twitter will not be unblocked at all, and even if the members of the working group vote to lift the ban on Twitter, this network will remain blocked by judicial order." In addition to this working group, the Iranian judiciary sometimes directly issues orders to block certain websites. The blocking of information sites in Iran began in the early 2000s and peaked during the presidential election of 2009, when many sites and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter became inaccessible, and the mobile SMS system was also cut off for several months. However, despite this ban, the office of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, is active on Telegram, Twitter, and Instagram. Additionally, Hassan Rouhani, many members of his government, several members of parliament, and a number of conservative and reformist political figures are active on social networks and messaging platforms. In the lead-up to the 2017 presidential election, several conservative candidates were also active on social media. In recent years, judicial and security officials have made many efforts to block "Telegram," but the Rouhani government has opposed these requests. The Minister of Communications and Information Technology announced on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, that the ministry would not be influenced by "pressures" and "the efforts of certain individuals" to filter Telegram and that this messaging service would not be blocked during the presidential election period. The mobile social network "Telegram" is one of the most widely used networks in Iran, with millions of users according to officials. The Supreme Council of Cyberspace has mandated channels and social networks with over five thousand members to register officially for monitoring their activities. Meanwhile, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran announced on December 9 that the Cyber Police summoned and interrogated the managers of several popular Telegram channels and "hacked" and made these channels inaccessible. On the other hand, the Islamic Republic officials have formed a "Cyber Basij" with the cooperation of "18,000 individuals" to monitor the activities of internet users in Iran. In March, 12 managers of Telegram channels close to reformists and the Rouhani government were arrested, and some of them are still imprisoned. In this context, the Rouhani government expressed concern about the "securitization" of the media space before the elections. The Attorney General of Iran stated that some of the detained Telegram channel managers would be released. An advisor to Rouhani linked the recent arrests of political activists to the 2017 elections.