Iran to launch domestic internet network
Iran plans to introduce a domestic internet network in what officials say is a bid to improve cyber security but which many Iranians fear is the latest way to control their access to the web. The announcement, made by a government deputy minister on Sunday, came as state television announced Google and its email service would be blocked “within a few hours”. The Iranian Students’ News Agency said the Google ban was connected to the anti-Islamic film posted on the company’s YouTube site which has caused outrage throughout the Muslim world. However there has been no official confirmation. Iran already has one of the biggest Internet filters of any country in the world, preventing normal Iranians from accessing countless sites on the official grounds they are offensive or criminal.
