Iran Uses "Smart filtering" to Partially "ease" Internet Censorship

Communications Minister Mahmoud Vaezi said on Wednesday that Iran plans to introduce "smart filtering" which only keeps out sites which the Islamic government considers them to be immoral to loosen internet censorship.

Internet use is high in Iran partly because many young Iranians use the internet to bypass an official ban on western cultural products and Tehran occasionally filters popular websites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Censorship has weakened somewhat since Hassan Rouhani was elected last year as a moderate and the smart filter initiative seems to reflect this.

Vaezi said: "We have signed agreements with three universities and research institutes to develop smart filtering to block only depraved and immoral sites but allow access to other pages," but without naming the organisations involved.

Mehr news agency quoted Vaezi who said to journalists: "Smart filtering is used for specific targets only and presently the project is undergoing experiments." 

 

The minister did not make clear what would be considered depraved and immoral, but Iranian clerics frequently use the terms to mean anything from pictures of women in revealing Western clothing to outright pornography.

But he dismissed rumours that Tehran will start filtering the latest teen fashion, WhatsApp Messenger instant messaging service. He added: "What is being said about this matter is mainly nonsense, propaganda."

Also the Mehr report did not mention the latest internet fashion, a Facebook page where women post pictures of themselves without their obligatory headscarf.

Cyberspace has been a controversial phenomenon in the Islamic Republic like satellite television and music videos in earlier decades because of political and also moral concerns.

Many in the conservative clerics long opposed the introduction of internet into Iran and since its debut, demanded tighter supervision.

Their offensive peaked during a crackdown on freedom of speech after the mass protests in 2009 against the disputed re-election of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 2009.