After its previous attempt to pass a sweeping internet censorship law, the “Sianat” bill, stalled in the face of public fury, the Iranian regime is once again moving to crush online freedom. In a clear maneuver to deceive the public and bypass opposition, a new bill with the same repressive content has been introduced under the benign-sounding title “Organizing Cyberspace.” This clandestine push for what many are already calling “Sianat 2” is a panicked confession of the regime’s inability to control the flow of information and its terror of an increasingly restive populace.
The bill’s introduction is an example of the regime’s duplicity. It was announced just 48 hours after President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government was forced by public pressure to withdraw its own draconian legislation, the “Countering Lies” bill. The state-run newspaper Etemad, in an August 11 report, exposed the ploy, writing that the new bill’s proponents are “moving with the lights off this time. There is no correct news from the text of the plan, nor a specific trace of the designer and writers of the plan.” The paper described the move as “the rebirth of the Sianat bill,” designed to bypass a public that is highly sensitive to such laws.
The myth of moderation: A united front of repression
While Pezeshkian cultivates a “moderate” image, this new bill exposes the unified repressive agenda of the entire ruling apparatus. Far from being a rogue effort by hardliners, the bill’s content was directly linked to the president’s own failed initiative. Hassanali Akhlaghi, a member of the Majlis Cultural Committee, admitted that the provisions of the “Organizing Cyberspace” bill were originally intended to be included in the Pezeshkian government’s “Countering Lies” bill. When the government backed down, the committee simply repackaged the same content under a new name.
This alignment cuts across factional lines. As the state-run website Asr-e Iran noted on July 28, the positions of Pezeshkian’s government spokesperson on internet restrictions are perfectly in line with those of the hardline Kayhan newspaper. Regardless of their public posturing, all factions within the regime share the same fundamental goal: imposing a “tiered internet” to severely limit access for the general public and choke off any channel for dissent.
The core motivation: Existential fear of the people and the PMOI
The regime’s frantic obsession with controlling cyberspace is not about preventing “false news”; it is about suppressing the damning truths of its corruption, incompetence, and brutality. The internet is the primary battleground where Iran’s organized resistance operates and where young Iranians witness the activities of the PMOI’s Resistance Units.
The regime’s senior officials have openly admitted their fear. IRGC General Gholamreza Jalali, the head of the Passive Defense Organization, warned Iranians against using foreign platforms like Instagram—which has over 48 million users in Iran—calling it a “mission-taking tool” for the enemy. The regime’s true target was articulated with chilling clarity by Hosseini Hamedani, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in Karaj. On July 25, he declared, “Today, we desperately need the ‘Chahar Zebar pass’ of cyberspace to be liberated from the enemy and these terrorists through a Mersad Operation.” This reference to the regime’s 1988 military counter-operation against the PMOI is an undisguised admission that the regime views the online space as a warzone and its primary enemy is the organized opposition.
A sign of weakness, not strength
This resort to deception and stealth legislation is not the action of a confident regime. It is a clear sign of a brittle dictatorship terrified of its own people. The fact that the regime must hide its repressive intentions behind vague titles and opaque legislative processes proves that it can no longer enforce its will openly. It is an admission of weakness and a testament to the power of the Iranian people’s resistance, which has forced the ruling clerics onto the back foot. This futile attempt to hold back a flood of dissent will not bring security to a dying regime. Instead, it will only intensify the public’s outrage and strengthen their resolve to achieve a free and democratic Iran.