VOA慢速英語: 伊朗針對穆斯林開發(fā)的“清真”網(wǎng)絡(luò)將采取下一步措施

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For years, officials in Iran have talked about building what they call a “HalalInternet” – an Internet for Iranians completely separate from the rest of theworld. Recently, government officials in Iran unveiled a new measure in their continuing effort to monitor where its citizens can and cannot go online. It is anIran-only search engine called “Yooz.”

Yooz is the Persian word for “cheetah.” Iranians, especially young Iranians, are big Internet users. Western-based search engines like Google, Bing andYahoo are very popular. But Yooz is designed to be the opposite of thosesites.

Officials say Yooz will perform searches of Iran-based and Persian languagewebsites. Mehdi Naghavi is the Minister for Information and CommunicationsTechnology. He oversees Yooz. Mr. Naghavi says the search engine willcollect search information for users to make searches faster and “moresecure.” Mr. Naghavi says Yooz will, in his words, “help Iranians circumventthe U.S.-led economic sanctions and grant the academic world the access to the Persian cyberspace.”

Iranian officials monitor Internet traffic in and out of Iran closely. Yooz is thelatest tool to filter out material and websites the government findsobjectionable. Officials are constantly blocking new websites created by freespeech activists. During national elections and sensitive times, they evenslowed down Internet traffic leaving users frustrated.

Some technology experts doubt Iran’s claims of building a completelyseparate national Internet. They say Iran has built what they call a “filternet” – aheavily censored and filtered Internet.

British Small Media is a web analysis company. In a recent report, it statesthat Iran is investing in a “filternet” and has doubled the budget for Informationand Communications Technology in just a few years. The report also states that popular websites and applications such as Instagram and WhatsApp are being blocked more frequently.

Technicians monitor data flow in the control room of an internet service provider in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 15, 2011.

Critics argue whether it is even possible for a country to turn back once it isconnected to the Internet. Egypt and Syria tried to block the Internet duringsensitive times. Both countries found the effects of blocking its citizens from the Internet even more damaging.

China’s “Great Firewall” is the largest web filtering and censorship operation in the world. Chinese officials use it to filter objectionable speech whilepermitting the free flow of international trade. But even that system is notfoolproof. Internet users in China can still circumvent filters from thegovernment using Tor, VPNs and Psiphon to hide their activities.

But it is clear that Iranians should not use Yooz if they want to search theentire Internet.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Doug Bernard reported this story from Washington. Jonathan Evans adaptedit for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

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Words in This Story

censor – v. to examine books, movies, letters, etc., in order to remove thingsthat are considered to be offensive, immoral, harmful to society, etc.

filter – v. to remove something unwanted by using a filter

foolproof – adj. done, made, or planned so well that nothing can go wrong

objectionable – adj. not good or right

Psiphon – n. a system of communication technologies that permit Internet users to bypass government filters and censors.

Tor – n. a type of software used to prevent people from learning one’s location or Internet browsing history

VPN – n. a network that uses the Internet to provide remote offices or individual users with secure access to a network; an abbreviation for Virtual Private Network

unveil – v. to show or reveal something to others for the first time