UN human rights experts urge Iran to abandon User Protection Bill

UN human rights experts are urging the government of Iran not to ratify its Regulatory System for Online Services Bill. Proposed in 2018, the bill would grant the government and army significant control over connections to the global internet by establishing state guidelines to avoid being throttled or blocked. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and other experts commented on this bill in October 2021 noting its concerns about control of the internet infrastructure and censorship.

On 23 February Iranian activist Hossein Ronaghi was jailed for criticising the bill, known as the User Protection Bill. He was released on 3 March.