Although the Internet is extremely popular and widely used in Iran, the government is making the medium more restrictive for the country's 21 million users, prohibiting access to more than five million Web sites, Agence France-Presse reported.
Abdolsamad Khoram Abadi, an adviser to Iran's prosecutor general, said anything perceived as immoral, anti-social or un-Islamic will be blocked, including the popular sites Facebook and YouTube. Iranians will not have access to many news sites either.
Internet service providers in Iran are already told to block access to political, human rights and women's sites, as well as anything pornographic, Sky News reported.
"The enemies seek to assault our religious identity by exploiting the Internet," AFP quoted Abadi.
Iran’s Information Ministry said the country ranks among the top 20 in Internet use, but service providers have been ordered to block blogs, many by journalists whose publications have been shut down and are seen as voices of dissent.
Click here to read more on this story from Agence France-Presse.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox