Qazvin IRGC: We Have Destroyed Obscene Mobile Networks

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Qazvin Province claims to have "destroyed and arrested the leaders of mobile obscene networks" in the province. On Saturday, November 6, the Fars News Agency reported statements from "a security official in the IRGC of the Owner of the Command" in Qazvin, who stated that the arrested individuals were active in the area of "anti-moral security" and were "identified and arrested in a complex technical and intelligence operation." According to this unnamed official, during this operation, "managers of more than 170 active groups on mobile social networks were identified, and several of them were handed over to the relevant authorities for judicial proceedings." This individual added that "the publication of vulgar and obscene texts in the form of textual and visual stories, humor, sexual counseling, and vulgar and obscene Iranian and foreign images" was among the actions of the arrested group. It was also mentioned that "the publication of insulting texts against ethnicities, officials, and prominent national figures" was another crime of the arrested individuals. The Islamic Republic has been increasing its security pressures on mobile messaging services for some time. The mobile and internet messaging service Telegram is one of these tools, whose CEO had previously stated that he was pressured by Iranian government officials to provide espionage tools from this network, but later retracted this claim. The Islamic Republic of Iran is recognized as one of the largest suppressors of the internet and free information in the world.