TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday urged the new government to impose controls over the Islamic Republic’s cyberspace, which has already been under heavy restrictions in recent years.
“What matters is for the rule of law to be applied in the virtual space,” said Khamenei during his first meeting with the new cabinet of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“If you don’t have a law (to regulate the internet), set a law, and based on that law, take the control,” he added.
Khamenei’s remarks come despite vows from Pezeshkian during his campaign to ease the longstanding internet restrictions in Iran. During presidential debates, he criticized internet filtering, notably for its impact on the country’s economy as many small businesses depend on social media.
Iran has over the years tightly controlled internet use, restricting popular social media apps such as Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter.
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Harsher curbs were enforced following 2019 protests against fuel prices and later demonstrations triggered by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Messaging apps including WhatsApp and Telegram as well as Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube have also been blocked.
A handout picture provided by the the office of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him (L) and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian during a meeting with the president and his cabinet in Tehran on August 27, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR/AFP)
Iranians have over the years grown accustomed to using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to evade the restrictions.
Iran regularly charges internet users based on posts they share online.
“Some do not understand or do not want to understand, but I have already said before that virtual space needs to be regulated in order to be turned into an opportunity and not a threat,” Khamenei said during his speech.
He cited the recent arrest in France of the Russian-born founder of Telegram Pavel Durov over alleged failings to curb criminality on the app.
“There need to be laws to regulate cyberspace. Everyone does it. Look at the French, they arrested this man and threatened him with 20 years in prison for breaching their laws,” he said.
“Violation of governance is not acceptable.”
Iran has in recent years said WhatsApp and Instagram would only be allowed to operate if they had a legal representative in the country.
But Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has said it has no plans to set up an office in Iran.
Iran ranked third globally in the number of times it shut down the internet in 2023, according to the digital rights group Access Now.
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