Iran: Parliament Set To Criminalize More Web Activities
Iran’s Parliament is preparing a proposal to widen the scope of computer crime laws to include text messages, weblogs and comments left on websites.
The computer crimes laws were established in 2009 and they have their own special special courts process. According to those laws, producing content that goes against “public modesty and morals, sanctities and officials, as well as public and government bodies” is subject to criminal charges.
The Etemad daily reports that the MPs behind the bill argue that the rise of “citizen-journalists” requires a law to control all cyberspace activities.
Behrouz Jafari, one of the proponents of the so called Universal and Comprehensive Law of Media, said: “No one is held accountable for the comments posted on a website but someone should be held accountable for them.”
Hamid Resai, another MP, said more than a year of research and collaboration by lawmakers, journalists and judges has gone into the proposed law, and it is now ready to be put to a vote in Parliament.
