![]() During October 2021, Iran experienced unprecedented disruptions. It maintains the power to issue directives about internet policy that are not law but are binding as the SCC is born out of the Supreme Leader’s edict that says their directives “ must be implemented ”.ĪRTICLE 19 has reported about the steps the SCC has taken to limit bandwidth, especially since the heavy disruptions in fall of 2021. The SCC was created in 2012 by the Supreme Leader. The SCC’s role in limiting access to global internet ![]() The SRC’s role in regulating bandwidth is a core element of the Protection Bill that has yet to be ratified by the Iranian parliament. The first article sets out the definition of the SRC the second its composition and the third its duties and powers.Īs per the new directive’s Article 3, an executive arm of the SCC, the Supreme Regulatory Commission (SRC) will be repurposed to set bandwidth limits that would in practice determine what online content Iranians can access by ‘managing domestic and international traffic’ and ‘blocking’ platforms. The 3 articles amongst the 22 of the Protection Bill set out the new role of a sub-group of the SCC, the Supreme Regulatory Commission (SRC). No parts of the Bill should be implemented, and especially not through an unaccountable body like the SRC.” However, this new attempt to silently usher in parts of the a Bill – proposals that do not even have enough support to pass through parliament – is an appalling act of circumventing the remaining due process left in the Islamic Republic of Iran. “ARTICLE 19 has long been calling for a wholescale repeal of all elements of the Bill. “The SRC’s role in tightening the net in Iran is alarming,” said Saloua Ghazouani, ARTICLE 19’s Director for Middle East and North Africa. ![]() On Tuesday, 6 September, Iranian news outlets reported that the SCC had ‘silently’ issued a directive the previous week, consolidating its control over online spaces by implementing 3 articles from the Protection Bill. It is led by an unelected direct appointee of the Supreme Leader. Iran’s SCC is technically helmed by the sitting President (currently Ebrahim Raisi), but is very much considered a mouthpiece and functionary of the office of the Supreme Leader. We call for the removal of the Internet User Protection Bill and an end to the SCC’s role in limiting freedom of expression and access to the internet in Iran. ARTICLE 19 condemns the absolute lack of due process in the implementation of the draconian Internet User Protection Bill, which is being railroaded into partial implementation through the Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC) – despite the Iranian parliament’s lack of political will to ratify it.
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