Hossein Hashempoor: The Curious Case of Filtering Iran Art

TEHRAN. (Iranart) – Just like art works, media outlets and websites should who what is going on in the real society.

Many thanks for using VPN to visit our website these days. This shows Iran Art still has a special place among its visitors. We are forever grateful for having so many faithful fans and elite readers.

One - By filtering or eliminating domestic media outlets, which by the way, have managed to have their own readers and visitors, we are only helping foreign outlets to replace them. This is increasingly true these days. If we believe this, we would stop filtering domestic news websites.

Two - We are all in the know how authorities want to filter Telegram these days. Authorities insist Iranians trust domestic social media networks. Even those behind the filtering know full well that this a failed policy and doomed practice.

Many domestic media outlets act within the framework of the law. Filtering them will only take away opportunities. It will undermine national interests. No doubt about it.

Three - Telegram is one of the most popular social networks in Iran and the question is why? How come people follow news on this platform and believe whatever they read from the BBC and other foreign news networks?

This is not because our journalists are not fit for the job. The problem is state censorship, which is on a biblical scale. It has our media outlets under the radar and none is allowed to cross red lines. Little wonder foreign media outlets and websites have so many readers and visitors.

Four - Why do you publish women with dresses (Mantos) that have no front buttons? Why do you show their slashed trousers? These are just some of the questions that some readers are asking from Iran Art after it was filtered. Few are also happy to see us in trouble with the law. They might be few yet even one is too many.

It reminds us of the times when media outlets with links to hardliners used to criticise some art works using the same language. The truth is Iran Art is not behind costume designs of artists who attend festivals and catwalks. Just like any other website, Iran Art publishes the news of these events. After all, no one expects a photographer to stitch buttons to women’s dresses!

Just like art works, media outlets and websites should who what is going on in the real society. Otherwise, self-censorship will force many readers to look for news elsewhere and beyond our shores. The same kind of philosophy by the IRIB is the reason why despite having 30,000 personnel it’s still unable to attract large audiences.

Five - Media outlets and websites with links to hardliners have for years published pictures that cross red lines. Iran Art has never had the guts to publish such pictures. We are so happy that those media outlets have never been filtered or banned for this practice. The hope is the same rule will apply to those that have no links to the conservatives.

Six - Iran Art is on a crusade to increase the number of its visitors. This includes the number of artist visitors. In addition to art, we publish news about sports, politics and events. We will at the same time publish all the news about art - as requested by our artists. The idea is to make sure our readers don’t look for such news elsewhere.

For the start, we will publish all national and international news, including videos from museums, European and American art galleries, trending poems, Broadway plays, Hollywood, and new books. We will also cover news about the Iranian contemporary art, which is an integral part of the world’s contemporary art. We are proud to act as a bridge between the east and the west.

Seven - It seems like yesterday – At 5PM on March 12, Iran Art was filtered without prior notice. Our readers had to use VPN to visit the website. That day is behind us. The value of Iran’s national currency against the US dollar has dropped significantly – 50,000 per 1 US dollar. This will be a difficult year for Iranian artists. Iran Art will be with - always.