Iran seeking new ways to censor the Internet and track dissidents

[icymist]

10/20/05
Iran seeking new ways to censor the Internet and track dissidents

More sites banned, overhaul of filtering system planned
Reporters Without Borders today accused the Iranian government of seeking to increase its control of the Internet in recent measures that have included contracting an Iranian company, Delta Global, to set up a new online censorship system.

While developing a woefully oppressive model of Internet management, Iran is participating actively in international talks about Internet governance that are being held as part of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the press organisation said.

"These new measures point to an ideological hardening in the Iranian government and a desire by the new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to centralise authority," Reporters Without Borders said. "They also show that factions exist within the conservatives, as the latest website to be banned, Baztab.com, is run by supporters of the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei."

"We are also worried by statements coming from the company that seems to have been given the job of managing Iran's Internet filters," the press freedom organisation added. "If what this company's chief executive turns out to be correct, online surveillance and censorship is to be stepped up. This is very bad news for Iranian bloggers and Internet users."


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