Once again, Iran has been making noise about its ambitious plans for internet censorship. In open admiration of China's innovative censorship advances, Iranian officials have been talking about their plans for a halal internet, which would essentially be a fully-controlled national intranet to replace citizen use of the World Wide Web. Sure, it’s Iran being Iran again, but here’s the kicker: the country hopes to build a model that could be easily spread throughout the Islamic world.The halal internet would require users to register their identity with the government before receiving intranet service or email. The relatively small, closed network would allow for easy monitoring of user activity as well as ensure access only to "morally appropriate" or government approved content. In an effort to soften the economic implications of the censorship plans, elite users like bank and ministry employees would still be able to access the regular web.In addition to the obvious information-control benefits, Iran hopes the new network will spread the Farsi language and boost their regional cultural influence. According to Iran's Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Ali Agha Mohammadi, as reported by Fast Company:“Iran will soon create an internet that conforms to Islamic principles, to improve its communication and trade links with the world […] We can describe it as a genuinely ‘halal’ network aimed at Muslims on a ethical and moral level […] The aim of this network is to increase Iran and the Farsi language’s presence in what has become the most important source of international communication."And why not? There are certainly other countries in the region that would love to stem the barrage of Western produced content that streams into every crevice of popular life. The promotion of Islamic principles becomes decidedly more challenging in an environment saturated with contrasting messages. And there are certainly other countries that would be happy to use a religious excuse to quietly spy on their citizens.But, despite the hopeful rhetoric, the Islamic Republic has yet to make any significant advances with its halal internet. A recent Persian-language Request For Information posted to a government website suggests that the Iranians are still actively looking to develop their intranet internally and having little luck. The RFI requests “proper conditions for domestic experts in order to build a healthy Web and organize the current filtering situation,” as reported by Ars Technica last week.For the time being, Iranian netizens can still circumvent government censorship in a number of ways including using proxy servers and, until recently, by accessing websites protected by the secure, encrypted HTTPS protocol. But, given the increasing frequency and enthusiasm of Halal internet pronouncements, Iranians would be wise to expect even tighter censorship in the near future.
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