Iran's telecoms minister under fire over continued internet filtering

President Masoud Pezeshkian’s minister of telecommunications is facing public criticism for not giving a definitive answer on the removal of state restrictions on internet and social media access.

In an interview after meeting with the Parliament’s news agency, Sattar Hashemi said he could not give an answer to the question of whether internet filtering will end.

"This is not a question to be answered with a yes or no. Some lawful management of this issue should occur. But naturally, people have needs in this regard, and it must be managed in an intelligent way."

He also claimed that lifting filtering for some groups and limiting it for others represents popular will.

Critics say the remarks signal that no policy change will be forthcoming.

“Every second of this video can bring the blood of any Iranian citizen who uses the internet on a daily basis to a boil,” the Rouydad24 news website wrote Tuesday about a thirty-second video clip of the interview which has gone viral on various social media platforms.

“Let me say it clearly, I’m not one of those people who you claim want intelligent management of the internet,” Iranian Sajjad Meshki posted on X.

“It is interesting that the answer to this question was very clear during the election campaign and the president-elect would unambiguously say yes to questions on this subject," Rouydad 24 added while protesting that the policy has softened now that the elections are over.

“The minister’s ambiguous response tarnishes the clear and honest image of the President [in voters’ minds],” Rouydad 24 contended.

“It required huge skill to become so hated by the public in less than two months from starting your career in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology!” journalist Vahid Khatami told the minister in a tweet, adding that he could not escape the issue with wordplay.

Another Iranian on X rose to the minister’s defense, arguing that he has only one out of thirteen votes in the Supreme Council of Cyber-Space which has the power to decide the fate of filtering. “I think it is too soon and not fair to attack him so harshly,” the user going by the name of Elahi Aslani wrote, contending that the minister should be given more time to tackle the matter.

Many Iranians are very disappointed that Pezeshkian has not taken any concrete steps to remove the filtering of the internet although this was one of his major promises he made to voters.

In the past two decades, the Islamic government has censored thousands of websites deemed religiously inappropriate or politically dangerous, while also blocking access to foreign social media. This has left citizens with no choice but to use circumvention tools such as VPNs.

“Almost everyone agrees that filtering has greatly damaged the relationship between the state and the nation and has weakened national solidarity and that it must immediately be resolved,” Ghader Bastani, professor of social communication sciences, wrote in reformist Shargh Daily Tuesday.

According to Bastani, those behind some home-grown social media companies who have received huge government funding to develop their platforms may be among the groups using their influence to prevent the elimination of filtering because free access to similar foreign platforms such as YouTube could deprive them of profits.

A majority of the population spends a few dollars a month on circumvention software. For low-income families, the extra cost could be considerable if several members of the family have to install the software on their phones and computers.