President Masoud Pezeshkian’s order to the Supreme Council of Cyberspace to crack down on the sale of anti-filtering software has left his supporters confused, as he had previously promised to lift internet filtering.
“I can’t understand the meaning of this order about anti-filtering software and how it can help the removal of filtering,” reformist political activist Hasan Asadi-Zeidabadi complained in a tweet Wednesday.
As president, Pezeshkian leads the Council, which includes several key cabinet members, such as the ministers of telecommunications, intelligence, culture and Islamic guidance, science and technology, education, and defense.
Before being elected, Pezeshkian strongly opposed the filtering of the internet which has forced tens of millions of Iranians to pay for anti-filtering software to get access to thousands of websites as well as all major social media platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, and YouTube for personal use and business.
In the past two decades, the Islamic government has censored thousands of websites deemed religiously inappropriate or politically dangerous, while also blocking access to foreign social media. This has left citizens with no choice but using circumvention tools, such as VPNs.
Many allege that influential groups and companies that sell anti-filtering software have a strong foothold in the establishment and and have huge vested interests in the continuation of internet filtering. A majority of the population spends a few dollars a month on circumvention software.
The President’s supporters expected him to speak about filtering at the first meeting of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace which convened Tuesday for the first time since he took office and convince other members to lift it.
“Mr. Pezeshkian, we didn’t vote [for you] to investigate the sale of anti-filtering software, we voted because we wanted filtering to be removed,” a disillusioned supporter tweeted.
Instead, the media reported that he ordered action against the companies that make hundreds of millions of dollars from selling anti-filtering software and declined to set a definite term for the removal of filtering.
Many allege that influential groups and companies that sell anti-filtering software have a strong foothold in the establishment. These groups, they say, have huge, vested interests in the continuation of the filtering.
“Mr. President, trust us that one of the most important things for national unity and dignity for Iran is normalizing the conditions of the internet [access]. Remove the filtering and the mafia [that controls the sales] of anti-filtering software will be gone by itself,” journalist Ehsan Bodaghi tweeted.
Rouydad24 news website on Wednesday argued along the same lines saying that Pezeshkian’s order to take action against vendors of anti-filtering software could be an indication that there was “no will to lift the filtering of social networks in the short term”.
"The challenges of Pezeshkian's path don't stop people from holding him accountable," Rouydad24 wrote. "He promised to lift filtering and even vowed to stake his life on it."
Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani stated on Wednesday that the administration is actively addressing the removal of filtering through various relevant bodies and councils, expressing hope that the promise made to the public will soon be fulfilled.
The Supreme Council of Cyberspace was formed in February 2012 by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s decree which mandated it to establish a “national cyberspace center” and invested it with the power to decide internet control policies.
The majority of the Council's members are either directly appointed by Khamenei ("natural" members) or hold their positions due to roles in other parts of the government that he assigns to them.
These include the chief justice, parliament speaker, head of the state broadcaster, as well as commanders of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and the Law Enforcement Forces (Police).