Restrictions on the right to freedom of expression extend to the right to information and to the
press and media. The 1986 Press Law provides content-based restrictions on traditional and
online media which significantly impact the information made available to the public. 12 13
In 2009, the Islamic Republic of Iran adopted the Publication and Free Access to Information
Act,14 which partially recognizes the right to access information as guaranteed under
international law.15 The Act, however, suffers from shortcomings, including broad exemptions
which undermine its effectiveness. Some of the Act’s shortcomings include restrictions on the
publication of information deemed to cause disgrace or contravene public decency or promotes
vice (Article 17). Additionally, the Act fails to establish a clear appeal mechanism and the
oversight body prescribed under its provisions reportedly lacks independence. Chapter Five of
the Act creates the Commission for Free Publication and Access to Information with a
Secretariat to provide oversight and act as an appeals mechanism; however, the Commission is
not independent as its members are all senior government officials representing powerful public
bodies, many of which have little or no commitment to transparency.16 17 18
Restrictions on the free communication of information and ideas extend online. For instance, the
Criminal Cyber Law criminalizes the publication of information considered against Islamic
tenets or the Constitution, to be disrupting public or national security, to be offending public
morality and chastity or amounting to propaganda against the State.19 20 The Cyber Criminal
Code Committee21 decides which websites should be filtered or shutdown altogether.22 23
12
The Press law: https://shenasname.ir/organs/vezarat/ershad/344
See more: Article 19, https://www.article19.org/data/files/medialibrary/2921/12-01-30-FINAL-iran-WEB%5B4%5D.pdf
14
Iran: Review of the Publication and Free Access to Information Act 2009”, ARTICLE 19, September 2017, available at:
https://www.article19.org/resources/iran-review-of-the-publication-and-free-access-to-information-act-2009-2/
15
UN Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 34 Article 19: Freedoms of opinion and expression, (2011), paras, 18 &
19, available at: http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4ed34b562.pdf
16
Iran: Review of the Publication and Free Access to Information Act 2009”, ARTICLE 19, September 2017, available at
https://www.article19.org/resources/iran-review-of-the-publication-and-free-access-to-information-act-2009-2/
17
See more: NGO joint submission to the Human Rights Committee, 2020, Article 19, Small Media, Human Rights Activists in
Iran, Impact Iran, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_ICS_IRN_42315_E.pdf
18
See more: Article 19, https://www.article19.org/right-to-info-iran/
19
See more: Article 19, https://www.article19.org/data/files/medialibrary/2921/12-01-30-FINAL-iran-WEB%5B4%5D.pdf
20
See also: Volunteer Activists, https://volunteeractivists.nl/en/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Civil-Society-in-Iran-and-its-FutureProspects-pdf.pdf
21
“The Cyber Criminal Code Committee consists of the following Ministers: Education, Communication and Digital
Information, Judiciary, Intelligence, Culture and Islamic Guidance, Science and Research, as well as Islamic Propaganda
Organization, the head of IRIB (Iran’s Broadcasting Company), the Police Force Chief, a representative of Parliament (delegated
by the legal and judiciary committees of Parliament) and an expert on digital and internet sciences (also delegated by
Parliament).” See more: https://volunteeractivists.nl/en/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Civil-Society-in-Iran-and-its-FutureProspects-pdf.pdf
22
The Committee has a list of filtered online items on the Iran’s Cyber Police’s website.
23
Small Media, Digital Rights in Iran, UPR Submission, Session 34 :
<https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=6980&file=EnglishTranslation >
13
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