Oxford Internet Institute

Current projects

• Iran regime invites people to turn in neighbours for ‘moral crimes’ via text message

  12 June 2019 The Independent

  
  

  Iran is to launch a text-messaging service to allow self-appointed guardians of morality in Tehran to turn in their neighbours or strangers for violating murky codes of public conduct, officials have said.

• Oslo Freedom Forum podcast

  12 June 2019 What Bitcoin did

  
  

  Latest panel debate from the OFF discussing the effects of the currency crisis on the Iranian internet and the effects of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin on internet access and use.

• Iran Encourages Citizens to Spy on Each Other and Report Moral Code Violations Via Text Message

  11 June 2019 Newsweek

  
  

  Iran’s government is urging its citizens to use text messages to report on their neighbours or on strangers if they believe they are guilty of violating the country’s code of conduct.

• Slack Bans Iranian Academic Living in Canada Because of Sanctions

  20 December 2018 Motherboard

  
  

  An Iranian academic says Slack banned him from the communication platform due to US sanctions. But the academic does not live in Iran; he’s in Canada.

• Magna Carta for the web: Chips with Everything podcast

  9 November 2018 The Guardian

  
  

  Jordan Erica Webber chats to the Iranian internet researcher Mahsa Alimardani about what we should be doing to rebuild trust in the internet.

• When governments censor websites and block messaging apps like Telegram, here’s where to turn for proof

  11 May 2018 CBC

  
  

  Data collected by watchdog Open Observatory of Network Interference is helping hold governments to account.

• Days after Russian clampdown, Iran signals that a ban of Telegram is imminent

  18 April 2018 The Verge

  
  

  Khamenei made the announcement on his Telegram channel

• Iran’s Internet Crackdown

  14 January 2018 BBC Click

  
  

  Iran internet crackdown; commentary by Mahsa Alimardani.

• Iran Protests: Government Took Control of Internet to Silence Dissent, Report Says

  10 January 2018 Newsweek

  
  

  Iranian authorities shut down social media channels and disrupted internet access as protests against the government spread across the country over the past two weeks.

• Why Iran’s government is cracking down on Instagram and Telegram

  9 January 2018 Vice

  
  

  Iranians hit the streets again today — on the sixth day of volatile protests that have quickly spread across the country.

• This App Is Helping Iranians Beat Tehran’s Internet Censorship

  9 January 2018 Vice Motherboard

  
  

  Psiphon, a Toronto-born app, has seen a 1,650% increase in downloads.

• The ‘revolution’ will not be Telegrammed

  8 January 2018 Wikitribune

  
  

  Iran blocked the popular messaging app Telegram, which many Iranians use to communicate, during ongoing nationwide protests.

• Social media plays ‘extremely important’ role in Iranian protests despite censorship

  4 January 2018 CBC

  
  

  Telegram is the platform of choice but protesters turn to backdoor software and private networks

• ‘When it gets to this level of crisis, everything is scary’: an Iranian protester speaks

  3 January 2018 CBC: The Current

  
  

  Images of the unrest in Iran have spread across the world in recent days, but what does it feel like to actually be there, in the chaos and violence on the streets?

• Iran’s leader: enemies to blame for violence

  2 January 2018 CBC: The National

  
  

  Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran's enemies are to blame for the violence that has taken over the country.

• Pro-government demonstrators take to streets in Iran

  2 January 2018 Channel 4

  
  

  Across Iran, thousands of people have been on the streets of major cities again today.

• Iran Is Blocking the Internet to Shut Down Protests

  1 January 2018 Vice Motherboard

  
  

  Reports say mobile services like Telegram have been shut down as protests continue across the country.

• What Telegram Owes Iranians

  1 January 2018 Politico Magazine

  
  

  Never in history has a protest movement depended so much on one technological platform. Will the company use its power wisely?

• Tightening the Net in Iran

  27 December 2017 media.ccc.de

  
  

  The Situation of Censorship and Surveillance in Iran, and What Should Be Done