As Internet users increasingly connect to the Internet through smartphones, this has transformed Iran’s Internet ecology towards an increasing reliance and production in apps. In Iran, a country that practises some of the most stringent censorship and surveillance techniques in the world has seen this transformation reshape the way the government implements information controls online. While applications with popular usage on browsers such as Facebook and Twitter remain blocked through their mobile applications, platforms that predominantly exist in app form such as WhatsApp, Viber, and Instagram remain unblocked in the country. This talk will look at how the government is counteracting these policies through various means, including local imitation apps, and new programs such as ‘intelligent filtering’, and the Revolutionary Guards' “Spider” program. Additionally, a discussion of how Iranian Internet users use these platforms, especially in reference to digital security awareness and practices will be included.

Mahsa