Neumann: The Iranian Government Uses Artificial Intelligence to Suppress Dissent

Hanna Neumann, head of the Iran section in the European Parliament, wrote on the social media platform 'X' on Friday, December 28, that the Iranian government has turned to artificial intelligence as a powerful tool for controlling and limiting individual freedoms. Neumann discussed how the Iranian government uses AI in various fields such as facial recognition, online surveillance, and predicting protests, adding that one significant aspect is the use of cameras equipped with facial recognition technology to identify women opposing mandatory hijab. According to her, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps utilizes these technologies to send warnings and target women opposing the hijab in public spaces. The head of the Iran section in the European Parliament also referred to the Iranian government's use of a national information network, which separates Iranian citizens from the global internet and uses AI algorithms to identify and censor critical content about the regime. Hanna Neumann also mentioned the cooperation between the Iranian government and China's Tiandy company, which provides advanced surveillance tools such as facial recognition systems and 'identity recognition' technologies to the Iranian regime. She emphasized that these technologies facilitate the filing of cases, arrests, and the suppression of dissenters in cyberspace. The head of the Iran section in the European Parliament urged the European Union to implement stricter controls on the export of EU technologies to Iran, especially in the fields of surveillance and AI, to prevent the Iranian regime from abusing these technologies to suppress dissent. Neumann concluded by stating that technology should defend freedoms, not attack them. She has previously criticized the policies of the Iranian regime multiple times. On October 25, Hanna Neumann stated in her speech in the European Parliament that every country is busy exporting something and 'the Iranian regime exports terror and repression.' The European Parliament: Discriminatory laws against women and girls in Iran must be abolished. The head of the Iran section in the European Parliament: The regime's brutality must have consequences. The head of the Iran section in the European Parliament: The Islamic Republic exports terror and repression. The head of the Iran section in the European Parliament: The Iranian government is a source of tension and violence in the region.