The Controversial Law: Iran’s Plan to Monitor Online Activities

So, there’s this new law in Iran that’s got everyone talking. It’s all about keeping an eye on what people are up to online. The government wants to create a database to track people’s online activities, and it’s causing quite a stir. The law, which is part of the Seventh Development Plan, says that the Ministry of Islamic Guidance will be in charge of this database. They want to use it to keep an eye on cultural stuff, people’s lifestyles, media influence, and communications. And get this, all government agencies and online businesses will have to feed their user information into this database. It’s got a lot of people worried about their privacy. The parliament approved the law on November 8, but it still needs to be given the green light by the Guardian Council.

Legal experts and others are not happy about this. They say it’s a breach of privacy and that the government could use this information to spy on people. The law does mention Article 25 of the Iranian Constitution, which is supposed to protect people’s privacy, but critics say it’s not enough. They’re worried that judges could use this law to override people’s right to privacy whenever they want to get hold of someone’s private information from their online activities.

The original version of the law even said that the government would use this data to make sure people are living in a way that fits with Islamic standards. But the deputy chairman of the parliament’s cultural committee, Ali Yazdikhah, says that only general data will be stored in the database, not individual information. He did admit, though, that they could use this data to see how interested people are in Islamic values and religious events.

Some people, like lawmaker Moeeneddin Saeedi, are against this law. They say that the government shouldn’t be trying to control people’s culture and lifestyle. Saeedi thinks that these kinds of laws just make people more resistant to the government’s ideas. He even pointed out that the government is trying to get more people to go to mosques for prayers, but it’s not really working.

Journalist Abbas Abdi also has something to say about this. He thinks that if the government really wants to use this data for social research, that’s not such a bad thing. But he’s not convinced that the government is capable of doing reliable research. He says that they often hide important statistics about things like relationships, alcohol, and even suicide. He believes that if the government is collecting this data, it’s not for research, but to control and scare people.

So, that’s the deal with this new law. It’s got a lot of people worried about their privacy and what the government might do with all this information.