Iran App claims

Mail Online, Iran may be using ‘weaponized' apps available on the App Store and Google Play to spy on MILLIONS of people around the world, report claims, 15 Feb 2018 "The report [from the National Council of Resistance of Iran] claims that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has created spyware-enabled apps for 'cyber-surveillance and repression' that are available on the App Store, the Google Play Store and GitHub with the goal of 'monitoring and preventing' new political uprisings."

Iran Controls Information with Halal Net

VOA, Iran Controls Information with Halal Net, 9 Feb 2018 "In the past four years, Iranian officials have permitted wider use of the internet, hoping that will help create a modern economy. Today, almost half the population has smartphones. This means they also have cameras and internet links permitting broadcast by anyone to anywhere."

#GirlsOfRevolutionSt/ #WhiteWednesdays

Guardian, Tehran hijab protest: Iranian police arrest 29 women, 2 Feb 2018 "One recent image taken from Mashhad shows a religious woman, in full chador, standing on a telecoms box holding up a headscarf, in solidarity with women who - unlike her - don’t want to wear it."

Screenshot below from Twitter: #GirlsOfRevolutionSt  Also see دختران_خیابان_انقلاب# and the hashtag #WhiteWednesdays

Also see CNN, Iranian women take off headscarves to protest veil law, 31 Jan 2018

#What_we_gave_vs_what_we_got

BBC Trending, Iranians compare Shah's regime with clerics'  "The hashtag has been used more than 25,000 times since Tuesday. Of those few tweets with their location tagged or verified, most were coming from in or near Iran, with a fair share from countries such as the US, the UK and Germany, which have large Iranian communities."

Newsweek, Iran on Twitter: Persian Users Made This Hashtag go Viral, 27 Jan 2018 "Following the recent anti-establishment protests across the nation, Iranians have taken to Twitter to compare the country before the 1979 revolution with Iran today, making the hashtag #What_we_gave_vs_what_we_got go viral."

#What_we_gave_vs_what_we_got:

#چی_دادیم_چی_گرفتیم

[screenshot @Armin Navabi‏]

Iran's National Internet

smallmedia.org, Filterwatch, Iran's National Internet "Last month, the Iranian government announced that phase 1 of its national information network has been completed. But what does that actually mean for internet users in Iran? Will this really lead to Iranians being cut off from the global internet? In today’s show, I’ll put these questions and more to a technology reporter with BBC Persian, who will give us his take on what the future holds for Iran’s national internet."

Iran Introduces Halal Internet

The Media Line, Iran Introduces Halal Internet "“The network is basically a government effort to create a nationally controlled internet,” Sanam Vakil, an associate fellow at Chatham House, an international affairs think tank, in London, told The Media Line. “Iran is a state that has heavy internet censorship so a national internet would be a way to provide increased government control.”"

Iran Net Update

IRNA, Iran to launch its first ever national data network on Sunday: Minister "Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi said Iran is going to launch the first phase of its National Data Network on Sunday."



BBC News, Iran rolls out domestic internet, 29 Aug 2016 "The government says the goal is to create an isolated domestic intranet that can be used to promote Islamic content and raise digital awareness among the public."



 The Next Web, Iran’s one step closer to launching its own internal Internet  "It’s expected that this network will over 60 times faster than the current Internet infrastructure. This is a result of the massive deployment of fiber-optic cables, as well as locally-based data centers."

Iran Nuclear Deal - Social Media Reactions

NY Times, Iranian Reaction to Nuclear Deal Fills Social Networks, 14 Jul 2015

MSNBC, The world responds to Iran nuclear deal in 140 characters 

'Rich kids' Instagram

alarabiya.net, Iran blocks Tehran ‘rich kids’ Instagram page also see aljazeera.com, 'Poor Kids of Tehran' takes on Iran's elite

'Iran's Leaders Fight Over 'Immoral' Mobile Internet'

IB Times, Iran's Leaders Fight Over 'Immoral' Mobile Internet "Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has refuted claims from a prominent cleric that high-speed mobile internet is immoral and un-Islamic, urging religious leaders not to "close the gates to the world"."

#Happy Iranians arrested

BBC, Iranian Pharrell fans arrested for Happy tribute video "A group of Iranian fans who created a tribute to Pharrell Williams' hit song Happy have been arrested."

WhatsApp faces ban in Iran over 'American Zionist' Zuckerberg

Techie News, WhatsApp faces ban in Iran over 'American Zionist' Zuckerberg "Abdolsamad Khorramabadi, head of the country’s Committee on Internet Crimes, announced the ban, saying that “the reason for this is the adoption of WhatsApp by the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is an American Zionist.”"

Iranian Police Boast Presence Monitoring Social Media

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Iranian Police Boast Presence Monitoring Social Media "As several members of the Rouhani cabinet continue to utilize Facebook and other online social networking tools, millions of ordinary Iranians ask why they are not allowed access to the popular websites."

Another rapper arrest

freemuse, Iran: Popular rapper arrested by Morality Police "Iran’s Morality Police have arrested popular rapper Amir Tataloo."

'Iran officials criticised for using banned social media'

Middle East Online, You can’t use Internet but we can! Iran officials criticised for using banned social media, 2 Dec 2013 "Iran's police chief Esmaeel Ahmadi Moghaddam on Monday criticised officials who "cross red lines" by using banned social media networks, Mehr news agency reported."

Rouhani Music Video

Middle East Online, Another step to breaking taboos: Rouhani tweets music video "A music video has surfaced on YouTube hailing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a similar way to a famed 2008 paean to his US counterpart Barack Obama."

And here is the video, directed by Hossein Dehbashi:

Iran's Hard-Liners Criticize Alleged Efforts To Unblock Facebook

Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL, Iran's Hard-Liners Criticize Alleged Efforts To Unblock Facebook "Lawmaker Fatemeh Rahbar, known for her hard-line stances, told the semi-official Fars news agency that presidential adviser Mohammad Reza Sadegh discussed lifting the block on Facebook with representatives of six ministries -- including the ministries of science, culture, and intelligence."

Rohani

RFE/RL, Rohani's Victory Signals Desire For Change "The victory of cleric Hassan Rohani, the sole moderate in Iran's presidential vote, signals a strong desire for change among Iranians, who are facing soaring prices, unemployment, and increased social and political restrictions."

Iran Internet Infographic

Back to code: currently having a nostalgia burst, writing on a (relatively) ancient computer with a very old version of Internet Explorer. Anyway ... still blogging: How Iran Censors The Internet [Infographic] "This infographic, from the Iran Media Program and the design studio Hyperakt, charts how far up the food chain internet censorship goes in Iran. It all starts at the very top, with the Supreme Leader, and makes its way down to internet users and service providers. In between, note the presence of some government entities, like the Cyber Police, which monitors social networks for anti-Islamic activity, and the Iranian Cyber Army, a coalition of pro-government hackers that launches cyberattacks against opposition groups. Clearly, a lot of thought goes into keeping people in the dark."

'Iran Targets Means Of Bypassing Online Censorship'

RFE/RF, Iran Targets Means Of Bypassing Online Censorship "Iran has stepped up its already tough Internet censorship policy by blocking the most popular antifiltering tool used by Iranians to access blocked websites."