Iranian women in front of the Azadi (Freedom) Tower in Tehran

Originally written for The Guardian:

“We’ll Laugh Together Again”: The Resistance of Iran’s Youth Culture

Iran: Overcoming The Regime’s Obsession With Hijab

Like many women in Iran, Darya is used to feeling under surveillance. Yet in recent months, the 25-year-old finance analyst from northern Tehran says that she never knows who could be watching her every move.

She says she has received messages from the police before warning her of suspected violations of the country’s strict hijab laws, but last November she was sent an SMS message containing her car registration plate that stated the exact time and place that she had been recorded driving without her head properly covered. Next time it happened, the SMS warned, her car would be impounded.

“It was really unsettling,” she says. “When you receive these messages you don’t know who has reported you – and the police never seem to have proof of the violation.”

After widespread outcry last year, the Iranian authorities said they would suspend enforcement of the new hijab laws, which impose draconian penalties – including fines and prison sentences – on women found in breach of the mandatory dress code.

Yet women in Iran are reporting that state surveillance has been steadily increasing.

Last week, the UN’s fact-finding mission reported on Iran’s increasing reliance on digital surveillance such as its Nazer mobile application, a state-backed reporting platform that allows citizens and police to report women for alleged violations.

The app is accessible only via Iran’s state-controlled National Information Network. Members of the public can apply to become “hijab monitors” to get the app and begin filing reports, which are then passed to the police.

According to the UN mission, the app has recently been expanded to allow users to upload the time, location and license plate of a car in which a woman has been seen without a hijab.

It can also now be used to report women for hijab violations on public transport, in taxis, and even in ambulances.

According to the UN report, aerial surveillance using drones has also been used at events such as the Tehran international book fair and on the island of Kish, a tourist destination, to identify women not complying with the hijab law.

The government has also increased online monitoring, blocking women’s Instagram accounts for non-compliance of hijab laws, and issuing warnings via text message. CCTV surveillance and facial-recognition technology has also been installed at universities.

Read full article….