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As the 1-year anniversary of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement approaches, Iranian authorities are pushing through new repressive legislation to control and punish women.

The ‘Hijab and Chastity Bill’ will give authorities power to deploy Artificial Intelligence and facial recognition technology to to identify, arrest, and punish women.

Women’s rights activist and Information Security Analyst Azam Jangravi outlines the plans, and what they mean for the right to freedom of expression, freedom to protest and to privacy.

Iranian officials have welcomed the legislation, which is being pushed through in secret. Representatives from several Iranian official bodies, including the Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which is responsible for enforcing the mandatory hijab law, have issued statements to intimidate the public and thwart demonstrations ahead of and marking the anniversary of Mahsa Jhina Amini's death in September. Many of their comments highlight the role technology will play in persecuting women.

Amnesty International and ARTICLE 19 have both documented instances of women being identified using street or traffic surveillance systems, and then being penalised for not wearing hijab.

The bill classifies women’s choice not to wear hijab as ‘nudity’, going a step further than the existing penal code – thereby increasing the penalties against women. In fact, as Azam Jangravi writes, anyone who engages in ‘acts such as disparaging the core tenets of hijab, whether in public spaces – both online and offline – or advocating for immodesty, indecency, non-adherence to hijab, or inappropriate attire, will face fines.’ People found guilty may face travel restrictions, bans from using the internet and social media, and lose their jobs.

This new legislation designed to further suppress people’s rights is the latest manifestation of what the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation on Iran has highlighted as the Islamic Republic’s ‘crimes against humanity’. The international community must continue to take action, and speak up, against these ongoing assaults.

ARTICLE 19 emphasises and reiterates its long-standing position on the use of facial recognition technologies:

• ARTICLE 19 reasserts that a moratorium is needed on the development of facial recognition and biometric technologies given their fundamental inconsistencies with international human rights standards.
• Companies involved in the development of this technology must be held accountable by states and international bodies.

Azam Jangravi, the author of ARTICLE 19’s analysis, is one of the original ‘Girls of Revolution Street’ – women who stood on top of electricity boxes in Tehran in 2018, taking off their hijabs in protest.

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