disrupting public or national security or to amount to propaganda against the State.53 54 The Cyber Criminal Code Committee55 decides on which websites shall be filtered or shutdown altogether,56 reportedly targeting websites maintained by members of vulnerable and marginalized communities or discussing issues relating to these communities.57 In 2018, Iran’s Cyber Police announced that since its foundation in 2010, it had arrested 74,917 people because of their online activities.58 This number includes many individuals such as bloggers and other social media personalities. Iranian authorities regularly block or restrict access to websites and social media platforms.59 The Government blocked the messaging application Telegram in 2018, an important mean of communication of information in Iran,60 and a number of its administrators have been arrested and charged with encouraging protests, “disturbing public opinion” and/or “promoting homosexuality”.61 Despite the existence of several mechanisms that ostensibly accept complaints regarding violations of citizens' rights, such as the Article 90 Commission of the parliament (established based on Article 90 of the Constitution, offering a mechanism to citizens to file complaint against any of the three branches of power) and the Oversight Bodies for the exercise of Citizenship Rights in the country's provincial courts, there is no evidence to suggest that complaints to these bodies are independently reviewed and investigated.62 Additionally, as the aforementioned restrictions on otherwise protected activities under international law are enshrined into Iranian law, opportunities to seek justice are particularly limited. 53 See more: Article 19, https://www.article19.org/data/files/medialibrary/2921/12-01-30-FINAL-iran-WEB%5B4%5D.pdf See also: Volunteer Activists, https://volunteeractivists.nl/en/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Civil-Society-in-Iran-and-its-FutureProspects-pdf.pdf 55 “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 56 The Committee has a list of filtered online items on the Iran’s Cyber Police’s website, 57 Small Media, Digital Rights in Iran, UPR Submission, Session 34 : <https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=6980&file=EnglishTranslation > 58 Small Media, Digital Rights in Iran, UPR Submission, Session 34 : <https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=6980&file=EnglishTranslation > 59 Small Media, Digital Rights in Iran, UPR Submission, Session 34 : <https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=6980&file=EnglishTranslation > 60 Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/02/iran-assault-access-information 61 Small Media, Digital Rights in Iran, UPR Submission, Session 34 : <https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=6980&file=EnglishTranslation > 62 Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee, Abdorrahman Center, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC), Impact Iran and Human Rights Activists in Iran, 2020, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCCPR%2fICS%2fIRN%2f42313 &Lang=en 54 7