More than 100 hours of an iron wall of censorship in Iran
23-November-2019
Category: Freedom of Expression
Breathing in Confinement – With escalating the Iranian’s nationwide protests, the Islamic Republic authorities have tried to crack down the protesters by blocking the Internet and preventing the news and images to be spread. Despite the heavy censorship, the news received from Iran, reveal that the protests are ongoing. The intervention of security forces and their use of war weapons, however, triggered the violence.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, on Thursday, November 21, 2019, NetBlocks publishing a diagram data, reported a 100 hours of Internet shutdown in Iran and denounced it as a clear violation of freedom of expression by the Islamic Republic authorities.
In addition, yesterday November 20, 2019, on the sixth day of the nationwide demonstration by Iranian people, Reporters Without Borders in a statement condemned the censorship by the Islamic Republic as a crackdown on freedom of information.
“Once again we condemn the repression of freedom of information in Iran and urge David Kaye the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression to intercede as quickly as possible to protect Iranians’ fundamental rights. The Iranian regime must adhere to its obligations to respect international standards and put a stop to all digital discrimination,” said Reza Moini, the head of RSF’s Iran-Afghanistan desk of this international organization.
Contrarily, today, the spokesman of the Judiciary Committee of Parliament welcomed the Internet shutdown in Iran, describing it as the best opportunity to replace the Global Internet by the internal one.
On Thursday, November 21, 2019, however, the President of the University of Tehran said: “Unfortunately, the Internet blackout has created a lot of problems for the universities, and we hope that the problem will be resolved soon. As our universities are international universities with extensive communications with the world, and the internet is needed for the universities”.
On the other hand, Government spokesman Ali Rabiei subjected the internet unblock to the calmness of the country’s atmosphere. While in the absence of free internet access, the number of people killed and injured during demonstrations in various cities has increased.