Senior Police Official: Social Networks are Tools of Enemy Espionage

Hosseini Hosseinzadeh, head of the Cyber Police in Isfahan province, stated that currently the 'enemy' is using social networks as a 'tool for espionage.' According to a report on Tuesday (November 24) by the Student News Agency, these remarks were made during a meeting analyzing social networks and the content of cyberspace, discussing opportunities and challenges at the University of Isfahan. Hosseinzadeh added that since social networks store and process millions of users' information daily, access to this data by the 'enemy' intelligence services could be used against the national interests of the country. The deputy commander of the police in Isfahan also claimed that currently '18,000 television networks and 9,000 Persian-language radio networks are producing programs for our people.' He did not specify the source of this statistic, adding that it is necessary to question the production costs of these programs and their financial sources. Hosseinzadeh also described the 'isolation' of teenagers at parties, engrossed in their mobile phones or tablets, as a 'terrible occurrence.' Previously, Mohammad Hassan Entezari, secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, quoted Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, as saying that a 'dam' must be built against the 'tsunami' occurring in cyberspace. Following the discussion of America's efforts for 'infiltration' in Iran, some supporters of the leader of the Islamic Republic are identifying social networks as a conduit for the 'enemy' to penetrate the country and are calling for the 'protection' of cyberspace. In recent weeks, several Iranian bloggers, including Arash Zad, Mohsen Sadeghi-Nia, Mahmoud Mousavi-Far, and Shayan Akbarpour, have been arrested. Arash Zad, editor of the 'Weblogina' website and a well-known figure in the technology field, was reportedly arrested by the 'Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Forces' at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport on September 1 while attempting to leave Iran. According to Reporters Without Borders, he was arrested shortly after the 'Working Group for Determining Criminal Content,' which operates under the supervision of the Attorney General of the Islamic Republic, blocked his blog. Simultaneously, Reporters Without Borders issued a statement condemning the arrests and suppression of bloggers and social media activists. Reza Moieni, head of the Iran section of Reporters Without Borders, told Radio Farda that according to available statistics, nearly 100 citizen bloggers have been arrested since August 2013, at the beginning of Hassan Rouhani's presidency. Moieni stated that these arrests are carried out by the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guards due to the 'power struggle that exists within the Islamic Republic and among various factions.' Ebrahim Raisi, the Attorney General of the country, also announced that he is pursuing a plan in the judiciary to manage cyberspace, stating that he shared this matter in a report on the activities and performance of the judiciary with members of the Assembly of Experts. Raisi's remarks came after the judiciary failed to block some mobile social networks, including Telegram, in Iran and did not reach an agreement on this issue with Hassan Rouhani's government. Some officials of the Islamic Republic have attributed many social phenomena, such as 'increased divorce rates,' to the use of the internet and social networks. For example, Jalal Ghafari, head of the Research Institute for Development Studies of the Jihad University, stated that 89% of internet content is 'immoral,' which has influenced 68% of divorces in Iran. He added that 'the dimensions of threats from mobile phones, social networks, and cyberspace have overshadowed the risks and threats from satellite networks.' Mohammad Hossein Nami, deputy head of the Organization for the Preservation of the Values of the Sacred Defense, also stated that social networks Twitter and Facebook are under the control of the 'National Security Organization' of the United States. Like a group of other Iranian officials who make similar statements, he did not refer to the source of his information.