Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Iran, November 7, 2020—In a November 4 convention of the Iranian regime’s Armed Forces Strategic Council for Cyberspace, Abolfazl Shekarchi, the cultural deputy of the armed forces staff, declared the founding of an “online content committee” at the armed forces staff and acknowledged that social networks and online hubs are “battlefields that are still largely dominated by the enemy of the revolution and the Islamic establishment.”
Based on orders of regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian authorities have engaged in widespread and extensive efforts to block access to social networks and spread regime propaganda online.
Against this backdrop, the initiative declared by Shekarchi is a tacit confession of the regime’s failure in cracking down on online activism, especially after the nationwide November 2019 protests pushed the mullahs’ rule to the brink of collapse.
In his remarks, Shekarchi stressed the sensitivity of the online battlefront and said, “Today, the enemy is trying to use the element of surprise and meticulously plans its operations. They take advantage of contradictions in remarks made by different officials and use it to compromise public trust and guide the public opinion.”
This, of course, is the implicit and bitter acknowledgment that online hubs have become active spaces to expose the lies of Iranian officials and reveal the truth about the regime’s crimes. Instances of these activities have been seen during protests, where activists and the Iranian opposition network have documented and posted the regime’s crimes against protesters, and during the coronavirus outbreak, where the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) has been constantly publishing real facts and statistics that the regime has tried to hide.
The root of the regime’s fear of the internet
The regime has constantly had a negative view of social networks and online activities. Censorship of social media dates back to 2009, when the regime cut down access to Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube after nationwide protests were widely covered on the networks.
But after the 2019 protests, the regime’s animosity toward internet services entered a new phase. Regime officials are constantly referring to social networks as battlefields and “arenas of faceoff with the enemies of the establishment.” The regime knows that activists are using social media and messaging platforms beyond its control to organize rallies and protests.
A few days after the protests began, Khamenei said, “You see that over the past two days, the two nights and one day, in which these incidents happened, all of the world’s centers of evil have encouraged these actions against us. [The MEK] are constantly encouraging and inviting people on social networks and elsewhere to conduct these evil acts.”
With the anniversary of the greatest post-1979-revolution uprising approaching, the regime is increasingly afraid that its security measures and its clampdown on internet access have proven ineffective.
Failure to block social media
State-run media are warning about the threat social networks pose to the regime’s rule. On November 5, Keyhan Daily, widely known as Khamenei’s mouthpiece, wrote: “Cyberspace is the prominent phenomenon of the current era, and aside from the opportunities it provides, we can’t neglect its threats.”
Keyhan warned that “this arena is dominated by the enemy” and complained of the activities of the MEK in social networks. “With every passing day, we witness the negative effect of having abandoned non-local social networks such as Instagram.”
The Majlis (parliament) has been entertaining the idea of blocking access to all social networks, but so far, they have not reached a final decision, because, after years of doing a cat-and-mouse chase of online services, they know that the Iranian youth are tech-savvy and will find ways to circumvent their censorship methods.
In this regard, Sharq, another state-run newspaper, reminded on November 5 that the regime has historically been unsuccessful at censoring mass media. “Don’t repeat the failed experience of banning VCRs and satellite dishes,” the daily wrote. “The Majlis should learn from the failed 26-year experience of banning satellite receivers and abandon the idea of censoring social media. The people will find a way to circumvent it.”
But given the regime’s habit to answer the people’s grievances with repression and violence, it has no other response to its current dilemma. But just as in the past, it has futilely resorted to publicity maneuvers where the police confiscate satellite dishes from the people’s homes, it is now using the same tactic with its cyberpolice, knowing well that it can’t shut down the voice of freedom in Iran.
