TEHRAN — Iran is taking initiatives to classify internet censorship under ‘age’ and ‘occupation’ within the next two to three months.

Currently, all users ranging from students to university professors, and journalists to doctors, are subjected to the same internet access restrictions, IRIB quoted Information and Communications Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi as saying.

It is necessary to classify internet censorship in accordance with age and job, the minister noted.

For instance, he said, “Once we block a news website for journalists we are actually persuading them to use VPNs (Virtual Private Network) to circumvent the bans.” 

Now that everyone is entitled to the same regulations, some perfectly legitimate requests (using some website depending on their jobs) of people are being ignored.

The situation must be handled discreetly; both Information and Communications Technology Ministry and the judiciary must take steps in classifying the access based on each groups’ needs. 

He went on to say that “we have made some positive improvements so far and we hope to implement the new regulations within the next two to three months.” 

In 2012, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei issued a decree for setting up a body to oversee the Internet. The body which is called The Supreme Council of Cyber Space consists of high-ranking officials, including the president, the parliament speaker, the judiciary chief, the prosecutor general, the ministers of culture, intelligence, science, education, and defense, as well as the police and the Revolutionary Guards chiefs who are tasked with defining policy and coordinating decisions regarding the Internet. 

MQ/MG