The Judiciary and the Era of Communication

Once again, the reporting of media outside the borders of the Islamic Republic has disturbed the peace and comfort of those in power. Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, in his recent comments, indirectly referring to the news of several teenagers filing a complaint against a famous Quran reciter, stated: "When we see that a satellite channel spends millions of dollars on propaganda, especially against the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, we are sure that we are on the right path." The head of Iran's judiciary emphasized the necessity of prosecuting individuals who collaborate with what he calls 'hostile' media from within the country, adding: "Those who help such media from inside the country should be prosecuted as accomplices in crime to clarify the boundary between revolution and counter-revolution." The appointee of the Supreme Leader at the head of the judiciary openly expresses dissatisfaction and anger at the increasing criticism of the performance and record of his subordinates; communication and information technology have long challenged the media dominance of authoritarian rulers in Iran and created a crisis for the hegemony of the ruling bloc. Antonio Gramsci, a prominent political theorist and activist, defines hegemony as the consent and agreement given by the people to the ruling bloc, which differs from coercion and power—often imposed. From this perspective, hegemony is a situation where the ruling political class has been able to encourage and convince social layers to accept its moral, political, and cultural values. In a society where the ruling class has hegemony, the dominated classes support the ideals and values desired by the ruling class; values that connect the power structure to society. According to Gramsci, the ruling bloc is successful as long as it can rely on the general consensus of the masses; however, if it fails in this regard, a crisis of authority or hegemony will occur. Hegemony can be seen as control through cultural consensus, while domination is considered control of society through coercion, force, and violence. Gramsci believes that regardless of the type of government, the absence of 'spontaneous consent' in civil society forces the government to resort to coercive power. The enemies of freedom and democracy and human rights violators in Iran have long lost the ability to persuade the majority of society and encourage them to align with their moral and cultural values. The state media is grappling with a crisis of audience and is struggling with the issue of 'viewer and listener attrition.' Communication technology and information technology have played an undeniable role in this situation; especially with the emergence of internet and satellite radio and television networks. This is independent of the websites and informational and analytical platforms that are publishing news and various data beyond the censorship capabilities of the Islamic Republic. Furthermore, the exponential growth of online social networks (like Telegram) has significantly reduced the censorship and distortion capabilities of the ruling authoritarians. All of this is independent of the brave reporting by some publications and news agencies and active websites inside Iran that continue their media activities and information dissemination despite all the repression, censorship, and threats. The far-right in Iran is facing a grim reality; the increasing expansion of information networks is making it progressively more difficult to 'disseminate lies' and 'distort the truth' within the geographical borders of the Islamic Republic. The far-right in Iran and the networked society Giovanni Gentile, a professor of philosophy at the University of Rome—who was appointed by Mussolini, the dictator of Italy, to reconstruct the educational system of that country—viewed the state as an entity with its own destiny, purpose, and will, and as a manifestation of absolute morality and general will. In totalitarian approaches, all human affairs and activities are legitimately placed under state authority. The individual's duty is not to think but to show overall loyalty and practical allegiance to the core of power. Truth is what the government expresses and is articulated through its official channels. One of the desires and demands of totalitarians is to monopolize the means of mass communication in the hands of the government; where only politically 'reliable' and ideologically 'pure' views, news, and reports are broadcasted and disseminated. However, the era of communication and information technology has increasingly nullified this dream and demand of the far-right in Iran. For example, the Telegram network—with about 25 million users—not only has taken the monopoly of information dissemination away from the government but has also created a different path for Iranian society by republishing and multiplying diverse data. This aligns with what Manuel Castells, a famous Spanish theorist, discusses in his theory of the 'networked society.' The two elections of the 10th Parliament and the 5th Assembly of Experts in Esfand 1394 (March 2016) were manifestations of the power display and different selection of the networked society. The complaint of several teenagers against a famous Quran reciter close to the leadership and the core of power for sexual assault was news that was published based on the aforementioned context and increasingly reflected in information networks. The reaction of the head of the judiciary and his deputy to this news is a prominent manifestation of the impact of this news; news that has been reflected in society contrary to the wishes of the authoritarian rulers of the judiciary. The widespread publication of the news of a 16-year prison sentence for Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist, or the republishing of the news of the arrest of Yashar Soltani, the director of the Architecture News website, are considered two other important and new witnesses. In all these cases—and other similar examples—information dissemination by news networks outside the geographical borders of the Islamic Republic and beyond the will of repression and censorship of the authoritarians has occurred against the wishes of domestic fascists and has had a wide internal and external reflection. To put it differently, in the first step, a news-analysis website or an internet site or radio and television outside Iran publishes news; the society intelligently selects the news; in an informal and unwritten agreement of the majority of citizens, the news is approved and empathized with; and then it is replicated in extensive online social networks (familial, colleagues, peers, friends, etc.). This is the situation that has caused the anger, rage, and dissatisfaction of the head of the judiciary. Now, news of executions of prisoners does not remain behind closed doors; as was the case with Shahram Ahmadi, a Kurdish Sunni prisoner who was executed last August along with a group of other security and ideological prisoners, who informed about the violation of their fundamental rights before execution through this very channel. As emphasized, the activities of media outside the borders of the Islamic Republic, independent of the efforts of patient journalists and brave media inside the country, are highlighted. In such a situation, as Gramsci said, the central power's cultural, moral, and value hegemony is increasingly in crisis, and there is no escape but to rely on intimidation, repression, and violence. For this reason, the head of the judiciary also threatens citizens inside Iran once again, stating that those who cooperate with media outside the country (what he calls 'hostile') will be prosecuted and punished on charges of 'aiding in crime' and committing 'counter-revolutionary' acts. The human rights and democracy-seeking movement, however, despite all the obstacles, repression, and threats, is finding its way by relying on new media and information and communication technology. The young society of Iran is becoming more networked, and social networks are articulating their demands and criticisms more intelligently and cohesively than before.