Confidential approval, continuous filtering and Starlink Who is the man behind the closed doors of Internet restrictions?
Mohammad Amin Aghamiri, the secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace and the head of the National Center of Cyberspace, held his first press conference last week after being in this position for nearly five years. A meeting that, instead of ending the questions about the country's internet policies, added to the existing ambiguities about filtering, confidentiality of documents and technical claims about the disruption of the Starlink satellite internet.
According to Ambassador Arjan, the way journalists were invited, the possible restrictions on asking questions and Aghamiri's statements about the performance of the institution under his management have turned this meeting into a controversial issue. A conversation with four government managers and some members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace shows that some of the claims are facing serious criticism and questions; However, some of these cases have been raised based on the narration of informed sources, and the mentioned parties need to be answered.
Aghamiri's account of the internet outage was questioned
One of the most controversial statements of Aghamiri was his claim about the number of times the Internet was completely cut off in Iran. In the press conference, he said that in the last 15 years, the internet was completely cut off only once, and in January, the complete cutoff lasted only for a few hours.
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However, a review of the events of the past years shows that Iran has faced widespread or complete internet blackouts many times; From November 2018 and the protests of 1401 to the 12-day war in Khordad and July 1404 and long-term outages in the following months. This record confronts the narrative presented in the press conference with serious questions about the definition of absolute certainty and how to calculate the duration of disruptions.
opposition to filter removal; An accusation that needs an answer
Another issue is Aghamiri's role in the decision-making process about removing the filter of foreign platforms. According to information in the meeting of the headquarters of the organization of cyberspace, which was held with the aim of returning the Internet to its previous state, among the 12 members, only two people opposed this decision: Aghamiri and Peyman Jabali, the head of the Broadcasting Organization.
Also, these sources claim that Aghamiri has opposed the reopening of these platforms in the meetings related to removing the filter, including the process of checking access to Telegram and YouTube. According to them, the negotiations of the Ministry of Communications with these two platforms had reached promising stages, but the objections of the responsible working group prevented the implementation of the decision.
These claims are raised in a situation where the removal of filtering was one of the promises of Masoud Mezikian during his presidency; A promise that, despite the passage of time, is still facing serious obstacles.
Why did the 32-band resolution remain secret?
At a press conference, Aghamiri announced the removal of the 32-section resolution "facilitating access to foreign platforms and promoting lawful governance" from confidential classification. This resolution in December 1403 was the basis for removing the Google Play and WhatsApp filters; However, access to WhatsApp was later restricted again.
But the main question is why a document with a direct impact on people's daily lives and digital businesses has remained secret for nearly two years. Contrary to previous explanations about the request of some ministries, Aghamiri himself had issued the order to make this resolution confidential.
The public release of the document in the current situation is related to the increase of speculations about the change of the secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyber Space. In this regard, Shargh newspaper writes that the issue of replacing Aghamiri has been discussed for a long time, but it has not yet been resolved.
Alleged Starlink disruption; Dispute over technical ability
Another part of the press conference was dedicated to Aghamiri's claim about the disruption of about 80% of Starlink communication packages during the January protests. He said that there are many technologies for managing satellite communications and Iran has also achieved capabilities in this field.
However, a space expert questioned this claim and said that the disturbances observed in some Starlink equipment were probably caused by GPS jamming systems near military centers; Systems that can affect the performance of some communication equipment.
According to this expert, extending such a limited disorder to the entire country or Tehran is not technically defensible. He also pointed to the experience of Russia and China and said that despite many efforts, these countries still do not have a definitive solution to disable the Starlink network.
The main issue; Answering about the Internet
In the past years, Aghamiri became the head of the Regulatory Organization and then the secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace from the Deputy Minister of Technology and Innovation of the Ministry of Communications; A place whose decisions affect the access of millions of users and the activities of thousands of businesses.
Now the main question is not only about the technical ability to restrict the Internet or the possibility of disrupting Starlink. The question is, on what basis are filtering policies adopted, why are documents related to public rights kept secret, and which institution is responsible for accountability for the economic and social costs of internet restriction.
If the claims made about Aghamiri's role in preventing the removal of the filter and the secrecy of the 32-band resolution are confirmed, the issue will go beyond the usual disagreement in policymaking and will become an issue of transparency and accountability in the management of cyberspace.