Iran has a very difficult relationship with the internet. Since 2009 uprising, the establishment has become very suspicious of it and has used more devices to control it. On the other hand, Iranians, and some of their leaders, seems to realize the potential of internet. Famously, the social media diplomacy between the new president and the West has been seen favourably. Iran also sees internet as an important tool in education and scientific research, and they will likely seek to continue this. The solution posed by Iran to balance security and privacy/freedom is that of National Internet Network, with little global access. The problem with this solution is that this allows for the country and it's people to become more secluded. It also allows for more monitoring and a controlled freedom of expression. The change in the regime does not necessarily seem to indicate that there will be a change in that overall plan, though it does seem that President Rouhani at least is willing to allow for freedom of expression and even accept criticism. It is ironic that these characteristics have led conservatives to be more vocal against him.
Another positive step due to the regime change and perhaps due to tragic death of Sattar Beheshti, has been the willingness to give early bail to bloggers. That said, the government has a long way to go before it's net users once again feel safe enough to use the internet to its maximum potential, as a means of socio-political and economic development.
On 15 June 2013, Iran elected Hassan Rouhani as the president of Iran to replace outgoing President Ahmadinejad, who ran on the platform of, among other things, free speech. President Rouhani took office on 3rd August, and since then, he has been on a whirlwind tour to prove that he is unlike his predecessor in many ways. his taking office he has been trying to convince that he is different from previous incumbent. While President Rouhani has been successful in some of the diplomacy, at home, he has found it hard to keep his promise. Bloggers and writers continue to face limits on their privacy and expression, albiet with less rigid penalties than before. One example is blogger, Fariba Pajooh, who was arrested in 2009[17] was once more arrested at her house but bailed pending trial[18]. Mostafa Faghihi, editor of online site Entekhab and a man close to President Rouhani, was also arrested for his comments but also bailed pending trial.
There has been hope for more access to popular Social Media sites for Iranians when President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif joined the two sites, creating their personal accounts. Supreme Leader himself has also an official account. In one of his tweet replies to the co-founder of Twitter, the President even implied that he hoped to allow his countrymen to use Twitter soon[19]. However the Minister of Information, Mahmoud Vaezi, has said any “immoral websites” will remain blocked.[20]
[1]http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.P2/countries/1W-IR?display=graph
[2] a + b Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran, Chapter III,
[3] Dec. 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), art. 19(1)- (2), U.N. Doc. A/6316 (In force Mar. 23, 1976)
[4] http://www.parstimes.com/law/press_law.html
[5] http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/101138.html
[6] Intro on the group by the Government http://internet.ir/intro.html (Page in Persian)
[7] http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/05/us-huawei-iran-idUSBRE8B409820121205
[8] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/world/middleeast/after-death-of-sattar-beheshti-iranian-blogger-head-of-tehrans-cybercrimes-unit-is-fired.html?_r=1&
[9] http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/iran
[10]‘Intelligence ministry admits arresting news providers, blames foreign media’ http://en.rsf.org/iran-intelligence-ministry-admits-20-02-2013,44099.html
[11] http://www.ihrv.org/inf/?p=5239
[12] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/05/iran-clamps-down-internet-use
[13] https://citizenlab.org/2012/11/irans-national-information-network/
[14] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20842113
[15] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/23/iranian-oil-ministry-cyber-attack
[16] https://www.asl19.org/en/mahmoud-vaezi-gives-his-first-interview-as-minister-of-information-and-communications-technology/
[17]http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2009/11/fariba-pajooh.html
[18] http://www.irandailybrief.com/2013/07/12/journalist-and-blogger-fariba-pajooh-arrested-reason-for-her-arrest-unknown/
[19] http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/11/24/hassan-rouhani-iran-twitter-account/3691671/
[20] http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-wont-unblock-facebook-twitter-says-minister/
The New Regime
Conclusion
Sources