IRAN: GOVT'S INTERNET 'FILTERING' LOOKS A LOT LIKE CENSORSHIP.

by Kimia Sanati

TEHRAN, Nov. 27, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Iranian officials say they will continue to protect it's society's morals despite being labeled by a journalists' watchdog group as one of the world's 13 Internet "black holes."

In a report released earlier this month, the Paris-based Reporters Without Frontiers named Iran, along with countries including China, Belarus, Saudi Arabia and North Korea, as "enemies" of the Internet for restricting access to it and jailing cyber journalists and bloggers.

The secretary to Iran's Informatics High Council said that this country defines its values differently than those in the West.

"If freedom of speech is against cultural values, it must be prevented. All countries in the world use filtering because freedom (of speech) shouldn't turn into (freedom of) prostitution," he was quoted as saying by the Iranian Labor News Agency.

More than one-tenth of Iran's 70 million people use the Internet, and the number is increasing rapidly. Cybercafes have for several years been popular hangouts for young people who use the net to chat, find new music and films, and also for news and research.

Iran's rulers have been well aware of the influence of the Internet and have, for several years now, been controlling access to sites through extensive filtering. A committee set up by the country's Supreme Cultural Revolution Council as well as a judiciary committee meticulously checks and issues filtering orders.