ALERT - IRAN

30 January 2009

Authorities step up control of Internet, block access to websites,including RFI and Deutsche Welle

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris(RSF/IFEX) -

Reporters Without Borders condemns the wave of censorship thathas hit many Iranian and foreign Farsi-language websites since 24 January2009. Most of the sites contain articles critical of the government andPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose term expires on 12 June. Internationalnews media websites have also been blocked since 26 January."After directly targeting human rights activists, the authorities are nowstepping up their control of the Internet, one of the few areas of freedomfor Iran's citizens," Reporters Without Borders said. "Internet filteringis not new in Iran but we are worried about the scale it has assumed andthe fact that it is affecting all the main cities. We call for an end tothe sanctions against these websites, which are sources of news andinformation."The Farsi-language site of the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (http://tinyurl.com/armbhd ) has been inaccessible since 26 January, as hasthe Farsi version of the Radio France Internationale site (http://tinyurl.com/dxjboy ) and the Arabic-language site of the satelliteTV station Al Arabiya ( http://www.alarabiya.net/persian ).According to tests conducted by Reporters Without Borders on 26 and 27January, the blocking is affecting the cities of Tehran, Qom, Ahvaz, Karaj,Tabriz, Bousher, Meshedd and Shiraz (see map on http://www.rsf.org ).Bahman Hedayati, the editor of the Parsine website ( http://www.parsine.com), described the blocking of his site as "illegal" in an interview on 26January for the Iranian news agency ILNA. The literary website Haftan (http://www.haftan.com ) was blocked the same day by certain InternetService Providers without any explanation. Iran's leading literary criticshave for the past three years been writing for the site, which is verypopular with young Iranians.Several news websites that criticise the government or belong to potentialrivals of President Ahmadinejad have also been rendered inaccessible byISPs since 24 January. Farda News ( http://www.fardanews.com ) and Parsine,sites that support Tehran mayor Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, a futureAhmadinejad rival, are among those that have been blocked.Meanwhile, cyber-feminists Parvin Ardalan, Jelveh Javaheri, MaryamHosseinkhah and Nahid Keshavarz were summoned before a Tehran appeal courtagain on 27 January. Calling for their convictions to be quashed, theirlawyer, Masomeh Sotoudeh, said that articles defending women's rights werenot "anti-government propaganda" nor did their publication constitute a"subversive activity".The four cyber-feminists were sentenced last September to six months inprison for contributing to the online newspapers "Zanestan" ("Women's City"- http://www.herlandmag.net/ ) and "Tagir Bary Barbary" ("Change forEquality" - http://www.we-change.org/ ).For further information on the four cyber-feminists' case, see:http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/96801/ Internet:http://www.internet.rsf.org

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