Chinese technology underpins Iran's internet control, report finds

"Iran's architecture of internet control is built on technologies from China, according to an analysis published by a British human rights organisation. The report by Article 19 says the technologies include facial recognition tools used on Uyghurs in western China and a Chinese alternative to the US-based GPS system, BeiDou. The report outlines the policies and imported hardware behind the growth of Iran's fine-tuned censorship regime, which allowed authorities to almost entirely cut off its 93 million people from the global internet"

"The internet blackout has helped to obscure grave human rights violations, including mass killings. The death toll from the protests is still being reckoned. Iran's internet is still not back to where it was. Rather, a patchy censorship regime appears to be allowing users sporadic access. The capabilities that underpin this blackout are the culmination of a decades-long project, one that involved the collaboration of Chinese authorities."

Iran uses Chinese technologies to build its internet control architecture, including facial-recognition tools deployed against Uyghurs and the BeiDou satellite navigation system. Imported policies and hardware underpin a fine-tuned censorship regime that enabled authorities to almost entirely cut off 93 million people from the global internet during January's anti-government protests. The blackout helped obscure grave human rights violations, including mass killings, and the internet remains patchy with sporadic access. These capabilities are the culmination of a decades-long project built with Chinese collaboration and a shared vision of cyber sovereignty. Chinese companies supplied internet-filtering equipment and surveillance cameras, alongside lesser-known providers with alarming tools.

Read at www.theguardian.com