IRGC official urges end to foreign presence in Iran cyberspace
Brigadier-General Mohammad-Reza Naghdi, a senior official in the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), wrote Friday to members of parliament urging them to end the "shameful situation" of "the hegemony of foreigners on Iranian cyberspace".
Naghdi, the IRGC ‘Coordination Deputy’, criticized a delay in parliament addressing Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei's call 14 months ago for managing cyberspace to top parliament's priorities.
The general suggested lawmakers were “still stuttering” when speaking about "Iran's independence in the cyberspace".
Parliament last week delegated decisions on a controversial bill setting new internet regulations to the parliament’s cultural committee. The legislation would require foreign-owned social networking and messaging corporations to appoint an Iranian representative, agree to comply with Iranian laws and regulations, and to officially register subscribers and provide this information to the authorities if requested.
In his letter Naghdi wrote that a "handful of Zionists" were behind the decision by Instagram, which is owned by the New York-listed Facebook, to remove the page of Iran's newly appointed chief justice, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, a day after it was set up.
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