February 24, 2022

Bill Increasing Surveillance and Censorship of Internet Moves Forward in Iran

Authorities’ Efforts to Crush Dissent Will Also Crush Livelihoods February 24, 2022 - A proposed bill that would drastically increase the Iranian ...

December 15, 2020

Comment by UN High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet on the Execution in Iran of Ruhollah Zam

Geneva, 14 December 2020 I am appalled at the execution in Iran on 12 December of Ruhollah Zam, activist and founder of the AmadNews Telegram channel. His death ...

August 24, 2020

Veteran Journalist Reporting to Prison To Serve Three-Year Sentence

Keyvan Samimi Sees Worsening Fear and Repression in Iran The veteran journalist and political activist Keyvan Samimi must report to Evin Prison to begin ...

May 11, 2020

Human Rights Lawyer Sentenced to Prison Without Access to Counsel

Four Defense Attorneys Imprisoned in Iran in Less Than Two Years Human rights attorney Payam Derafshan was denied access to counsel while ...

December 20, 2019

“This Verdict Means Any Protest Will Be Considered an Act of Violence”

Nine Labor Rights Activists and Journalists Sentenced to Prison Without Right to Appeal Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi Eliminated Appeal Process with ...

July 16, 2019

Brushing Off Security Concerns, Telecoms Minister Touts Iranian-Made Mobile Phone Operating System

Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi announced on July 7, 2019, the development of an Iranian-made version of the Android operating system ...

June 5, 2019

Iran: Three Rights Lawyers Sentenced to Lengthy Jail Terms in Less Than a Year

Defense Attorney Imprisoned for Social Media Posts June 5, 2019 – Amirsalar Davoudi has become the third known defense attorney to be sent ...

May 8, 2019

Official Admits to “Defeated” Attempt to Move Iranians Over to State-Sponsored Messaging Apps

Hamid Fatehi, a deputy minister at the Ministry ...

April 24, 2019

Former Basij Paramilitary Member Sentenced to 13 Years for Creating Online Group

Kamal Jafari Yazdi Had a Change of Heart After the 2009 Protests Kamal Jafari Yazdi, a former staunch supporter of the Iranian government, has been sentenced to 13 ...

April 23, 2019

Workers’ Rights Activists Arrested for Revealing Torture by Intelligence Ministry Held Unlawfully

Lawyers representing workers’ rights activists Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Qoliyan say the two are being held unlawfully now that their two-month detention ...

April 23, 2019

Prosecutor General’s Cyber Division Launches New Online Censorship Center in Iran

Some Internet Users in Iran Warned of Prosecution for Accessing Blacklisted Websites In 2019, Iranian media outlets began reporting on the sudden ...

February 22, 2019

Cyberattacks on Iranian Online Businesses Expose State’s Failed Digital Security Promises

Government Touted “National Information Network” by Promising Improved Digital Protections At least 20 digital media and financial companies in Iran were ...

January 30, 2019

Renewed Pressure in Iran to Block Instagram After Activist’s Post About Torture Makes Headlines

A labor activist’s widely read Instagram post alleging he was tortured ...

January 4, 2019

Judicial Official Announces Order to Block Instagram Less Than a Year After Banning Telegram Messaging App

Judicial Order Tied to Previously Undeclared Policy of App Usage Level Eight months after Iran blocked the country’s most widely used messaging app, Telegram, a deputy prosecutor has announced a judicial order to also ...

December 17, 2018

Why Did Telegram Warn Users That Iranian Versions of the Telegram App—Talaeii and Hotgram—Are “Unsafe”?

Iranian Client Apps Are Violating Telegram's Terms of Service by Failing to Protect User Data December 17, 2018 – In response to a rising ...

November 29, 2018

Death of Satirist Alireza Rezaei in Exile Prompts Outpouring of Grief from Iranians Forced by State Repression to Flee Iran

Beloved Blogger Broke Taboos by Writing About Political and Social Issues with Humor November 29, 2018—The death in exile ...

November 13, 2018

Iran Poised to Allow Military Full Control Over Internet, Messaging Apps

Bill Claims to Protect “Digital Borders” by Trampling Internet Freedom, Privacy After repeated denials ...

August 1, 2018

Iran’s Telecommunications Company Illegally Reroutes Telegram App Traffic

Move Designed to Tighten Ban on App But Ineffective in the Long Run In a new move aimed at tightening the state-imposed ...

July 26, 2018

User reaction to blocking Telegram

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June 1, 2018

Iranians Complain of Fake Accounts Created in Their Names on State-Approved Soroush App

The CEO of Iran’s Soroush messaging app, Meysam ...

May 24, 2018

Eight Iranian Officials Call For Lifting Ban on Twitter Less Than a Month After State Blocks Telegram

Conservatives Increasingly Endorsing Twitter as Propaganda Front Six Iranian ministers and two members of Parliament (MPs) have sent a letter to President Hassan Rouhani calling ...

May 22, 2018

Iran’s Telegram Users Back on the Rise Three Weeks After State Banned the App

Iranian Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi has revealed that the number of Telegram users ...

May 18, 2018

Iran Tightens Internet Censorship by Requiring Government Agencies to Use State-Approved Search Engines

After banning the widely used Telegram messaging app, the Iranian government is once again ...

May 11, 2018

Eight Internet Freedom Organizations Call on Iran to Lift Ban on Telegram

The undersigned organisations call on the Rouhani administration to challenge the order and call on the Judiciary to revoke the order and end this egregious violation of freedom of expression rights ...

May 10, 2018