Iranian Cyber Police
"The Iranian Cyber Police was formed in 2009, and has worked with other Iranian cyber units to filter websites, monitor Internet behavior, and hack email accounts related to political action on the Internet. The Iranian Cyber Police has made arrangements to increase filtering on Facebook and block content on social networking websites that the Iranian government finds objectionable. On December 22, 2011, the Law Enforcement Forces of Iran publically announced that the Iranian Cyber Police was monitoring all suspicious Internet activity, emails, and text messages. The Iranian Cyber Police published a detailed list of rules and regulations corresponding to its increased monitoring and scrutiny of the Internet. In 2012, the Iranian Cyber Police ordered the deletion of Iranian blogs and brought charges against some people connected with the blogs. On October 30, 2012, the Iranian Cyber Police arrested blogger Sattar Beheshti, reportedly for anti-government comments he posted online. Beheshti, who was kept in detention without a warrant, died in custody in early November, allegedly during interrogation."1
"The Iranian Cyber Police, founded in January 2011, is a unit of the Islamic Republic of Iran Police, headed by Vahid Majid. From the time of its inception until early 2015 it was headed by Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam (listed). Ahmadi-Moqaddam underlined that the Cyber Police would take on anti-revolutionary and dissident groups who used internet-based social networks in 2009 to trigger protests against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In January 2012, the Cyber Police issued new guidelines for internet cafés, requiring users to provide personal information that would be kept by café owners for six months, as well as a record of the websites they visited. The rules also require café owners to install closed-circuit television cameras and maintain the recordings for six months. These new rules may create a logbook that authorities can use to track down activists or whoever is deemed a threat to national security.
In June 2012, Iranian media reported that the Cyber Police would be launching a crackdown on virtual private networks (VPNs). On 30 October 2012, the Cyber Police arrested the blogger Sattar Beheshti without a warrant for ‘actions against national security on social networks and Facebook’. Beheshti had criticised the Iranian government in his blog. Beheshti was found dead in his prison cell on 3 November 2012, and is believed to have been tortured to death by the Cyber Police authorities. The Cyber Police is responsible for many arrests of Telegram Group Administrators in connection with the nationwide protests of November 2019."2
"The Iranian Cyber Police, founded in January 2011, is a unit of the Islamic Republic of Iran Police, which at the time of its inception until early 2015 was headed by Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam (listed). Ahmadi-Moqaddam underlined that the Cyber Police would take on anti-revolutionary and dissident groups who used internet-based social networks in 2009 to trigger protests against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In January 2012, the Cyber Police issued new guidelines for internet cafés, requiring users to provide personal information that would be kept by café owners for six months, as well as a record of the websites they visited. The rules also require café owners to install closed-circuit television cameras and maintain the recordings for six months. These new rules may create a logbook that authorities can use to track down activists or whoever is deemed a threat to national security. In June 2012, Iranian media reported that the Cyber Police would be launching a crackdown on virtual private networks (VPNs). On 30 October 2012, the Cyber Police arrested the blogger Sattar Beheshti without a warrant for ‘actions against national security on social networks and Facebook’. Beheshti had criticised the Iranian government in his blog. Beheshti was found dead in his prison cell on 3 November 2012, and is believed to have been tortured to death by the Cyber Police authorities."3
Sources:
1. https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1847.aspx