Robert
Tait
London Guardian
Monday, December 4, 2006
Iran yesterday shut down access to some of the world's most popular
websites. Users were unable to open popular sites including Amazon.com
and YouTube following instructions to service providers to filter
them.
Similar edicts have been issued against Wikipedia, the internet
encyclopaedia, IMDB.com, an online film database, and the New
York Times site. Attempts to open the sites are met with a page
reading: "The requested page is forbidden."
The clampdown was ordered by senior judiciary officials in the
latest phase of a campaign that has seen high-speed broadband
facilities banned in an attempt to impede "corrupting"
foreign films and music. It is in line with a campaign by Iran's
Islamist president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to purge the country
of western cultural influences.
Iran was among 13 countries branded "enemies of the internet"
last month by the human rights group, Reporters Without Borders,
which cited state-sanctioned blocking of websites and the widespread
intimidation and jailing of bloggers.
Critics accuse Iran of using filtering technology to censor more
sites than any country apart from China. Until now, targets have
been mainly linked to opposition groups or those deemed "immoral"
under Iran's Islamic legal code. Some news sites, such as the
BBC's Farsi service, are also blocked.
"We have asked the judiciary, who are in charge of filtering,
to explain the decisions on all the sites specified but so far
the only reply we have is a confirmation of the block on Wikipedia.
We don't know why," said a senior technician with Datak,
a service provider.
The ban on YouTube reflects a growing official sensitivity to
private films on the internet, an issue highlighted by a recent
online video which appears to show an Iranian soap opera star
having sex.
With some 7.5 million surfers, Iran is believed to have the highest
rate of web use in the Middle East after Israel. The net's popularity
has prompted an estimated 100,000 bloggers, many opposed to the
Islamic regime. Some blogs are substitutes for Iran's once-flourishing,
but now largely supressed, reformist press.
Last week Mohammed Tourang, head of the information bureau's
cultural committee, warned Iranian websites of stricter rules
by announcing steps to stamp out "immoral and illegal"
content. He said site owners would be given official reminders
to eliminate forbidden material. Special attention would be paid
to content judged to be a threat to national unity or insulting
to sacred religious texts and symbols. Students and academics
say the move limits their ability to conduct research.
The purge mirrors a rising tide of censorship in Iranian publishing
which has resulted in the banning of hundreds of books, including
western classics. Illegal satellite dishes have also been seized.
