Iran's internet censorship regime is built on Chinese technologies, according to a report by British human rights organisation Article 19. The technologies include facial recognition tools used on Uyghurs in western China and China's BeiDou satellite navigation system.
The report outlines how Iran's fine-tuned censorship regime, which enabled authorities to cut off nearly all internet access during anti-government protests in January, relies on imported hardware and policies. The blackout obscured grave human rights violations, including mass killings, with the death toll still being assessed.
Iran and China share a vision of 'cyber sovereignty', the idea that a state should have absolute control over its internet. Chinese companies such as Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, and Tiandy have supplied internet-filtering equipment, surveillance cameras, and deep packet inspection technologies to Iran.
Researchers note that smaller Chinese providers supply tools with 'alarming' capabilities, making it difficult to know how Iranian authorities surveil users. The report's author, Michael Caster, said there is an incentive for opacity regarding Chinese tools in Iranian infrastructure.
Iran is not the only customer; Chinese companies have sold censorship systems to Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Ethiopia. However, the actual capabilities of these tools remain unclear, according to Amnesty International researcher Jurre van Bergen.
