Iran plans to monitor phone messages

2 May 2007 | News and features

As part of a renewed crackdown on personal freedoms in Iran, the latest government-sanctioned curb is on mobile messaging. Iran’s Ministry of Telecommunications announced this week that the Iranian government is now in the process of acquiring the technology to filter ‘immoral’ multimedia mobile messages – that is, any video, image or audio messages deemed unacceptable by government authorities.

Iran’s state-run broadcaster reported on 28 April that ‘in order to prevent possible misuse of MMS (multimedia message servicing), immoral actions and social problems, the Telecommunications Ministry will filter immoral MMS.’

SMS, or short message servicing, will so far not be targeted, though in the past year, there have been reports on the Internet of at least a handful of Iranians being arrested for sending information or views via SMS that are contrary to the values portrayed by the Iranian government.

While the announcement has now been formally issued, the logistics of actually conducting the censorship are not yet clear as no details have been provided of what exactly would constitute an ‘immoral’ MMS. Experts are suggesting that, as in the past, the ambiguity will serve as a general warning and the practical issue of determining who has violated the law will be undertaken on an individual basis.

SMS and MMS have become increasingly popular in Iran today, in conjunction with the growing interest in using alternative sources of communication in a society where personal expression is as susceptible to censorship as the mass media. Mobile messaging has also become an extension of blogging and Internet use for many Iranians. Young Iranians in particular use their mobile phones as a lifeline for social interaction and mass joke messaging is very popular. However many of these messages are sarcastic or openly critical commentaries on the Iranian government and the state of Iran today – a fact that is not lost on the authorities.

While the Ministry’s announcement does seem to target pornographic mobile message content, amongst Iranians the larger issue is understood to be against messages that can be construed as political. The danger of being caught violating censorship laws is greater with mobile messages than with the Internet as Internet users have the option of remaining anonymous, while mobile messages can easily be traced to their sender. It now remains to be seen how serious the threat is and how many people will be arrested.