Montazeri: Cyberspace Is a Slaughterhouse and We Should Close It
The Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri compared the Cyberspace to a slaughterhouse and said we must close its path for some people.
In a meeting with the head prosecutors of the country, he addressed the officials by saying: “Filtering means closing the path to the slaughterhouse for some people. If you don’t agree that the cyberspace is a slaughterhouse just say so.”
Montazeri stated that the cyberspace has become a breeding ground for crime and continued: “I told some of the authorities that if you want to see what damages the cyberspace does to people, visit our cybercrimes department.”
He believes that due to the existence of crimes in this space, it is the Judiciary’s responsibility to take preventive measures: “When we see most crimes have a cyber come from the cyberspace, shouldn’t we take preventive measures? Is it not our legal and Sharia duty?”
Referring to Rouhani’s recent comments about the filtering and how the regime made a mistake by closing the doors of internet, Montazeri said: “As long as the country is in an economic war, addressing such issues is unnecessary: “Other than polarizing the society, what benefit does it have to bring up issues unrelated to the economic war? Is filtering a priority in our lives? Why should we divert people’s attention to it?”
He added that “many other countries now have started to limit internet and it’s not like the cyberspace is free.”
He continued: “Blasphemy, anti-national security teachings, and destroying the identity of the youth are among issues we face in cyberspace.” He claimed that “we are not shutting it down. We are just cleaning it up.”
He asked the president to create the “National Internet” as soon as possible.