Censorship in Islamic republic ofIran
Friday, January 15, 2010
Censorship in Iran is the limiting or suppressing of the publishing, dissemination, and viewing of certain information in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The majority of such censorship is implemented or mandated by the Iranian government. Censored content often includes information that relates to women's rights, freedom of speech, democracy, pornography, certain news sources, certain religious content, and many websites. Censored media include essentially all capable of reaching an even marginal audience, including television, print media, radio, film, museum and gallery exhibits, and the Internet. Iranians attempting to access Wikipedia or most other informational databases and search engines are met with with a page reading: "The requested page is forbidden.
"[1] Most forms of media are vetted for acceptability by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Reporters Without Borders ranks Iran's press situation as "Very serious", the worst ranking on their five-point scale.[2] Iran's Internet censorship policy is labeled "Pervasive" by the OpenNet Initiative's global Internet filtering map, also the worst ranking used.[3]
Subject matter and agenda
Censorship in Iran encompasses a wide range of subject matter. The agendas behind such censorship are varied; some are stated outright by Iranian government itself and some are surmised by observers inside and out of the country.
Political
Censorship in Iran is largely seen as a measure to maintain the stability of the country and the control of the Islamic government. Censorship helps prevent unapproved reformist, counter-revolutionary, or religious proponents, peaceful or otherwise, from organizing themselves and spreading their ideals. In 2007, for example, five women were charged with "endangering national security" and sentenced to prison for collecting over a million signatures supporting the abolishment of laws discriminating against women.[4] Additionally, censorship prevents Iranian citizens from discovering or learning more about past and current failures and abuses of the government that could create or inflame anti-government sentiment.
Some of the topics explicitly banned from discussion in the media by the Supreme National Security Council include Iran's economic troubles, the possibility of new international sanctions targeted at Iran's nuclear program, negotiations with the United States regarding Iraq, social taboos, unrest among Iran's Azeri and other ethnic minorities, and, more recently, the arrests of Haleh Esfandiari, Kian Tajbakhsh and Ali Shakeri.[4][5]
Media
Two notable crackdowns on the Iranian press occurred in August 7-11, 1979, early in the Islamic Revolution when the Khomeini forces were consolidating control and dozens of non-Islamist newspapers where banned under a new press law banning "counter-revolutionary policies and acts." [6] And in April 2000, when the conservative-controlled judiciary launched "a wide-ranging crackdown" against the then flowering of democratic reformism. Nearly all of the reformist dailies were closed and many leading journalists jailed.[7]
Religious
The agents of censorship are sometimes not official government employees, but religious organizations (although these can operate in tandem with government agencies). Koranic schools have been known to participate in the assault, vandalism and ransacking of journalists and news organizations perceived as critical of Islam or its major figures, such as Ayatollah Khomeini.[5] In 2007, after student newspapers at Amirkabir University of Technology published articles suggesting that no human being--including Muhammad--could be infallible, eight student leaders were removed to Evin Prison.[4]
Internet Censorship in Iran
Internet censorship in IranIn the first decade of the 21st century, Iran experienced a great surge in Internet usage, and, with 7.5 million people on the Internet, currently has the second highest percentage of its population online in the Middle East, after Israel. When initially introduced, the Internet services provided by the government within Iran were comparatively open. Many users saw the Internet as an easy way to get around Iran's strict press laws.[8][9] With the election of Iranian president Mohammad Khatami, and the start of the 2nd of Khordad reform movement, a clampdown occurred that became stricter after the election of conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005. Iran is now considered to be one of the most repressive Internet-censorship regimes in the world.
References
1- http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,1963166,00.html
2- http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10733
3- http://map.opennet.net//index2.html
4- MacFarquhar, Neil. (2007). "Iran Cracks Down on Dissent". The New York Times. Retrieved June 24, 2007.
5- Reporters Without Borders - Iran, Annual Report 2007
6- Schirazi, The Constitution of Iran, Tauris, 1997 p.51
7- Molavi, Soul of Iran, Norton, (2002) p.5
8- Feuilherade, P. (2002.) "Iran's banned press turns to the net". BBC.com. Retrieved December 9, 2006.
9- BBC News. (2003.) "Iran Steps Up Net Censorship". BBC.com. Retrieved December 9, 2006
posted by Goftaniha @ 8:57 AM,
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The Author
Amir Farshad Ebrahimi . Phd
My name is Amir Farshad Ebrahimi ,I was born in Gholhak(north of Tehran), I am a freelance broadcast journalist and a blogger.I have written many articles and blog posts related to Iranian politics. I have been working with an American organization as a consultant on Iran's human rights issues and against radical fundamental groups since 2005. This blog on Iran's politics, culture, and human rights news is designed to inspire young Iranians. I hope to one day return to my homeland, Iran. I have written (Persian) can be found under: www.goftaniha.org
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This blog is a on Iran, Political and pop culture, art, and Human Rights. Its purpose is to inspire creativity by sharing links and resources. Albert Einstein said, “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources,” but what the hell did he know anyway? The site was conceived by Farshad , like all good ideas, while goofing off at work.
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