Thread by @KhosroKalbasi

Iran Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC) has partially ratified internet Protection Bill that will further curtail online freedoms in Iran, hand over key infrastructure to Supreme Leader controlled agencies.🧵
#طرح_صیانت

Iran Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC) will repurpose one of its arms, Supreme Regulatory Commission (SRC) to set bandwidth limits that would in practice determine what online content Iranians can access. The SRC is tightly controlled by the Supreme Leader Khamenei. #طرح_صیانت

Supreme Regulatory Commission in addition to leading Iran domestic and international cyberspace policy will set rules for acquiring permits for "all online activities" from content creation and publication to services and infrastructure. #طرح_صیانت

The SRC will also lead Tehran's push for big data cultivation and analysis while setting rules for "protecting user privacy". This can translate into banning all foreign platforms in line with policy of opposing Iranian users data being stored abroad. #طرح_صیانت

The SRC will also be in charge of setting prices for "all online services". This can be abused by the state for giving incentives to private firms that share user data with security agencies and omitting unwanted competition by price dumping. #طرح_صیانت

From the 12 permanent voting members of the SRC, 9 are direct or indirect appointees of the Supreme Leader. Three are representatives of Islamic Republic security agencies and armed forces. #طرح_صیانت

The move delegate powers to Supreme Regulatory Commission that overlap with legal responsibilities of the ICT Ministry and the Committee Charged with Determining Offensive Content (filtering committee). #طرح_صیانت

Earlier in March, @ARTICLE19Iran, @AmnestyIran, @hrw along with with over 50 other organisations, called on Iranian authorities to rescind the "Protection Bill" which they described as "draconian". #طرح_صیانت
article19.org/resources/iran…