not independent: its members are all senior government officials representing powerful public bodies, many of which have little or no commitment to transparency.19 20 21 Restrictions on the free communication of information and ideas extend online. For instance, the Criminal Cyber Law criminalises the publication of information considered against Islamic tenets or the Constitution’s, to be disrupting public or national security or to amount to propaganda against the State.22 23 The Cyber Criminal Code Committee24 decides on which websites shall be filtered or shutdown altogether.25 Such restrictive legal provisions grant Iranian authorities’ significant discretion to impose overbroad and vague restrictions on individuals’ rights to freedom of expression and to information in violation of the country’s international human rights obligations. Indeed, Iranian legal restrictions are inconsistent with international standards which stipulate that restrictions must be narrowly defined, pursue a legitimate aim, conform to the strict tests of necessity and proportionality and be compatible with Article 19(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both online and offline.26 Similarly, overbroad restrictions, vaguely worded and generic bans on freedom of expression are inconsistent with international standards.27 The authorities frequently resort to the Iranian legal framework in order to intimidate, arrest and prosecute individuals who peacefully exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly including journalists and media workers, trade unionists, and lawyers. 28 29 30 31 19 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/ 20 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 21 See more: Article 19, https://www.article19.org/right-to-info-iran/ 22 See more: Article 19, https://www.article19.org/data/files/medialibrary/2921/12-01-30-FINAL-iran-WEB%5B4%5D.pdf 23 See also: Volunteer Activists, https://volunteeractivists.nl/en/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Civil-Society-in-Iran-and-its-FutureProspects-pdf.pdf 24 “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 25 The Committee has a list of filtered online items on the Iran’s Cyber Police’s website, 26 UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), General comment no. 34, Article 19, Freedoms of opinion and expression, 12 September 2011, CCPR/C/GC/34 , available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4ed34b562.html 27 UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), General comment no. 34, Article 19, Freedoms of opinion and expression, 12 September 2011, CCPR/C/GC/34 , available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4ed34b562.html 28 See more : ARTICLE 19, Small Media, Human Rights Activists in Iran, Impact Iran, Human Rights Committee, 129th session (Geneva) 29 June – 24 July 2020, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_ICS_IRN_42315_E.pdf 29 See more: Iran Human Rights, https://www.iranhr.net/en/reports/23/ 30 See more: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/controlled-and-pursued-labor-activism-incontemporary-iran/ 31 See more: Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, https://www.ecpm.org/wp-content/uploads/Rapport-iran-2020-gb-070420WEB.pdf 3