Iranian legal expert lambasts internet filtering as ‘unlawful’

Mohsen Borhani expressed his views on the X social media platform, stating, “The current filtering is an illegal action and has no legal basis. Therefore, lifting it does not require permission from any authority.”

“Compliance with an illegal act through inaction or its gradual removal has no legal legitimacy and is a form of legitimizing previous law-breaking,” he explained.

Removing the internet restrictions, one of Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian’s campaign trail promises, has taken center stage these days.

Also on Saturday, Mohammad Mohajeri, a principlist political analyst, said if the promise to lift the filtering is implemented decisively, it would boost public confidence in other promises made by the president.

He urged Pezeshkian not to yield to a few members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace which oversees the internet in Iran.

The Iranian Minister of Communications Sattar Heshemi indicated on Thursday that the filtering might be lifted gradually.

The minister acknowledged that the current state of cyberspace is multifaceted and cannot be viewed solely from a technical perspective.

He pointed out that there is a broad agreement among council members that the current situation is unacceptable, but added determining the appropriate course of action involves complex considerations.