A/HRC/28/26 members of the Iran Student News Agency, who were reportedly interviewing victims and photographing the protest.19 32. The Secretary-General urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to review critically the plan on the protection of promoters of virtue and preventers of vice, which may allow individuals to target women who are dressed in a manner deemed unconventional. D. Restrictions on freedoms of expression and of peaceful assembly 1. Freedom of expression 33. The continued crackdown on media professionals, the pervasive restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression, including the closure of newspapers and magazines, and the ongoing monitoring, filtering and blocking of websites that carry political news and analysis raise great concern. Individuals who have expressed their views on social media or appeared in videos have been targeted and prosecuted. Some 5 million websites are currently blocked, and the Government is reportedly planning to implement “smart filtering”, which would further restrict content on the Internet (A/69/356, para. 22). The creation of a “national Internet”, announced in 2006, would further restrict users’ access to the global Internet.20 On 21 September, the Prosecutor General urged the Minister for Communication and Information Technology to immediately block messaging services such as Viber, Tango and WhatsApp, which, he claimed, were being used to disseminate derogatory remarks about the Supreme Leader.21 According to a report on the website of the news agency Khabaronline (www.khabaronline.ir), on 12 September the Head of the State cyber-police force warned that private messages on Viber and WhatsApp could be monitored and that persons circulating “insulting comments” about the Supreme Leader and other officials would be “dealt with” accordingly. 34. On 18 September, six individuals were reportedly arrested in May 2014 for making a YouTube video that showed them dancing to the popular song “Happy” were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to a year, and to 91 lashes. They were reportedly convicted of participating in the production of a “vulgar video clip” and of “illicit relations” between group members. Although the sentences were suspended for three years, they now risk arrest again should they commit an offence. 35. In November 2014, the Supreme Court reportedly upheld the death penalty sentence for Soheil Arabi, for “insulting the Holy Prophet” in several Facebook posts.22 The authorities pointed out that Mr. Arabi’s case was currently being reviewed and the sentence was yet to be finalized. Eight individuals, including a British national, were sentenced to a combined 123 years in prison on charges that included blasphemy, propaganda against the Government and insulting the Supreme Leader on Facebook (A/69/356, para. 27). 36. Freedom of information and expression is of paramount importance for every society; the prosecution of individuals for expressing their views on social networks not only silences legitimate peaceful expression but pushes society towards self-censorship. The Secretary-General urges the authorities to promote and protect the right of individuals to express themselves freely, and to refrain from any sanction that contravenes international human rights law. 20 21 22 10 International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, “Internet in Chains: The Front Line of State Repression in Iran”, November 2014. PressTV, “Iran Judiciary orders blocking of Viber, Tango, WhatsApp”, 21 September 2014. Human Rights Watch, “Death Sentence for Facebook Posts”. 2 December 2014.