Iran Expands 'smart' Internet Censorship

The Iranian government said on Friday that it is to expand what it calls "smart filtering" of the Internet, a policy of censoring undesirable content on websites--without banning them completely, as it used to. The Islamic Republic has some of the strictest controls on Internet access in the world, but its blocks on U.S.-based social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are routinely bypassed by tech-savvy Iranians using virtual private networks (VPNs). According to official news agency IRNA ,Communications Minister Mahmoud Vaezi said, "Presently, the smart filtering plan is implemented only on one social network in its pilot study phase and this process will continue gradually until the plan is implemented on all networks."