Are we about to fix filtering?

After the impeachment of the President, the 14th government officially began its activities. In this context, it seems that we are one step closer to solving the problem of filtering, with the recent statements of officials confirming the failure of the filtering policy and the plans to solve it were unveiled in Parliament. Although experts believe that there are legal problems with the filtering plan, they consider it a positive step. On the other hand, the authority and power of the Masoud Madijian government to cancel the filtering are questionable, and experts believe that the 14th government has the power to cancel the filtering and should use its opportunity to convince the rest of the system in this direction.

One of the promises made by Masoud Mezikian during the election debates was to improve the filtering situation. That year, he repeatedly criticized filtering, emphasizing its destructive effects and the creation of a black market for filter breakers, but at the same time he also believed that “all over the world, the Internet is restricted at some point”. Although these statements are a bit vague, they give many people hope that with the official inauguration of the new government, access to the Internet and various platforms will be resolved. Now, with the activities of the 14th government officially starting this week, the recent statements of officials and experts on the failure of filtering and the repair plan presented in parliament have strengthened the assumption that we are moving step by step closer to fixing filtering. Mohamed Qasim Osmani, a representative of the people of Bukan, spoke in a public speech in parliament last week about a two-emergency plan to remove filtering, and in the end the public session of parliament came to a standstill due to the opposition of some deputies and the lack of attention to the plan. The plan was presented to parliament as an emergency as “unlocking (filtered) messengers and virtual pages”. One of the articles of the plan proposes that for security reasons, the blocking (filtering) of messengers and virtual pages at the municipal and provincial levels, with the approval and announcement of the Supply Council at the regional and departmental level and at the national level, will be possible in stages only after the approval and announcement of the Supreme Security Council at the national level. In one of the notes of the article, it is emphasized that the blocking (filtering) of messengers and virtual pages is temporary and should be lifted as soon as the security issues are resolved. This will mean that if the plan becomes law, the filtering of platforms that have been filtered so far will also have to be removed. In addition, in the second note, it is stated that the President will be responsible for the implementation of the plan if it becomes law.

Experts say that Qassem Osmani’s plan is a positive step in identifying the bodies responsible for disconnecting and connecting the Internet in terms of security and the elimination of filtering, but there are still legal issues. They say that from a legal point of view, based on public rights and human rights, citizens’ rights such as the Internet cannot be deprived under any circumstances. Hamid Bedi, an activist for free access to the Internet, also believes that the right to permanent and free access to the Internet should always be defended, and there should not be any conditions on this issue, but if we look at the plan to remove filtering realistically, we understand that this is a positive action. Expressing this matter, he told Economist World: “The Internet was also filtered for a period of time during the presidency of Hassan Rouhani, but the filtering was lifted after the security issues were resolved. “Now, with the approval of Qassem Osmani’s plan, we can hope to some extent for the right to relatively free access to the Internet.”

Since the responsibility for removing the filtering is now more than before, some say it is a decision of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, and some say the government has no power in this regard. Mohammed Saeed Ahdian, the political and media assistant to Mohammed Bakr Qalibaf, announced last week that the decision to remove the filtering should be made by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, so the Speaker of Parliament did not allow the filtering to be approved. Earlier, Issa Zarepour, the Minister of Communications of the 12th Government, also advised presidential candidates not to promise to remove the filtering, because decisions on these issues are made in meetings, and the majority vote is not necessarily the government’s. At the same time, experts believe that the government can fix the filtering problem, but it is difficult and must be determined.

In another part of his speech, Bedi said: “The government must be determined to eliminate filtering so that the rest of the system can be convinced in this regard. Currently, we hear voices from Parliament and other institutions that filtering is not effective; therefore, filtering needs to be reviewed.” In this context, Akram Fadakar, one of the candidates for the Ministry of Communications in the 14th government, said that filtering is a failed project and this area should be re-diagnosed in terms of the goals pursued. So far, a serious review should be conducted on this issue to build consensus.

Internet activist Bedi continued his speech, stressing that the government should use coupons to fix the filtering problem, saying, “The 14th government has two paths to take: one is to completely cut off the Internet or to completely apply filtering. In the first case, the Internet must be completely disconnected and we only have an internal network. In the second case, it should be considered that it is technically impossible to completely filter. If politicians accept this fact, they will have no choice but to remove the filtering.”

Having said that, in the context of the increasing severity and number of negative consequences of filtering, from the use of filter breakers to the spread of class Internet, it is necessary to determine the task of fixing filtering as soon as possible. In addition to the large number of different statistics on the use of filters that are presented every time, the CEO of Mobile First recently criticized the current filtering process at the company’s annual general meeting of shareholders and announced that at least two-thirds of the Internet users of this operator use filter breakers. Mehdi Akhwan Bahabadi also mentioned two negative effects of filtering, namely the decline in the quality of service of this operator and the spread of filter breakers, and expressed the hope that the new government, based on the promises made during the campaign, will fundamentally solve this problem by modifying the filtering process. On the other hand, according to a recent new resolution of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Communications is obliged to provide unfiltered high-speed Internet by the end of the year, but not for everyone, but only for companies operating in the International Innovation Zone located in the Campus Technology Park. In this context, the class Internet is actually expanding and the rights of other Iranian citizens are being violated; this is something that the 14th government should solve as soon as possible, with the goal of eliminating filtering and eliminating the platforms that create the class Internet.