Rouhani: We Do Not Have Free Media in the Country, We Made Mistakes in Filtering

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani acknowledged the failure of filtering policies in Iran on Monday, stating that due to the lack of free media, the virtual space has experienced 'inflation' as people seek to express all topics online. Speaking to managers of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, he said that fighting against the 'public demand' of the people is 'illegal and illegitimate.' He noted, 'We do not have free media in the country, we only have a state-run radio and television, and people have rushed to use mobile phones and access the virtual space for freer access to information, hence we are witnessing inflation in mobile and virtual space usage.' Rouhani added, 'If different groups had their own radio and television, they would express part of their views through those channels, and naturally, this inflation in mobile and virtual space would not have occurred.' These remarks come as global organizations have long criticized the Islamic Republic for media freedom, a topic that officials have rarely acknowledged. Reporters Without Borders ranks Iran 164th out of 180 countries in press freedom for 2018, showing no significant improvement from the previous year. Rouhani further stated, 'If we had 500 media outlets, this level of inflation in the virtual space would not have occurred; it is not inflation in goods and food, the virtual space is also experiencing inflation; everything is wanted to be said in this space because there is no other media.' He emphasized that if each faction had a radio and media outlet to express their positions 'officially and with identification,' it would be clear 'who says what and which faction and party they support.' He added that sometimes it is unclear who is saying things in the virtual space and from where, and these issues need to be corrected. Many experts in Iran have previously discussed the impact of networks on reducing audiences for Iranian radio, television, and other media. Meanwhile, institutions under the Supreme Leader and conservatives are pursuing various plans to control social networks and the internet in Iran. Regarding filtering, Rouhani stated, 'We must accept that we made a mistake.' He emphasized the 'unsuccessful' nature of filtering policies in Iran, saying, 'We thought if someone wrote on a piece of paper or an authority issued a filtering order and telecommunications and agencies executed it out of fear, everything would be fine; it has become clear to us that this is not the solution.' The President stated, 'We must admit that we made a mistake thinking that if we said the use of a certain feature was prohibited and filtered, everyone would listen. We saw that after filtering any feature, a circumvention tool was created, and no matter how much we tried, new circumvention tools were provided daily, resulting in more harm and damage, especially to our youth and children from using these circumvention tools, than when they used the same software we filtered normally.' He stressed that neither blocking nor abandoning this space will lead us to our destination; we need to increase the media literacy of our society, teenagers, and youth. Rouhani's remarks come shortly after contradictory statements about the filtering of Instagram. The Ministry of Communications began 'smart' filtering of Instagram in 2014, where access to websites is not completely restricted, but part of the content identified by this software is made inaccessible to users. In late May, six ministers and two members of parliament who are part of the committee determining criminal content requested the Attorney General to lift the filtering of Twitter, but he opposed this request. Some filtering cases are approved by the committee determining criminal content, and sometimes the judiciary directly issues filtering orders, such as the blocking of the popular Telegram network in Iran. This committee consists of 12 members, with the Attorney General as its head. In another part of his speech, Rouhani claimed that 'the founder of filtering' in Iran was Reza Shah, who granted permission for radio use to 'specific individuals.' His remarks have been reflected on Twitter, with some users noting that many clerics opposed radio and television, deeming them forbidden. Rouhani stated, 'We think we have some powers from the sky that allow us to issue commands to the earthlings; such a case does not exist.' His statement comes as Friday prayer leaders and other clerics in Iran have always emphasized the implementation of what they consider 'divine laws' by themselves. Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, also emphasized 'faith in the unseen' in the 'initial document of the Islamic-Iranian model of progress' published on October 14 on his website. In the 'foundations' section of this 'progress,' he wrote that 'the material world is in the realm of the beyond, and the effective factors in it are not limited to material and natural causes,' and the path to achieving the desired progress passes through 'adhering to divine guidance,' 'leadership of the infallible Imam,' 'attention to the sustainable goal of realizing the word of God,' and 'the dominance of believers over the people of falsehood.'