Iran’s Digital Crackdown: Drones, Apps, and Surveillance Enforce Hijab Laws

[Social Media]

 

Iranian authorities have intensified their efforts to enforce the country’s mandatory hijab laws using advanced digital surveillance, including drones, facial recognition, and mobile applications, according to a recent United Nations report. The UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran has described the crackdown as a pattern of “state-sponsored vigilantism,” where both security forces and civilians play a role in monitoring and punishing women who fail to comply.

 

The report reveals that drones are being used to track women’s adherence to hijab laws in public areas, including Tehran and southern provinces. Additionally, facial recognition software has been installed at Amirkabir University in Tehran to monitor female students. These measures are part of a broader state effort to suppress dissent, particularly targeting women.

 

The findings follow last year’s UN determination that Iran’s government was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman. Witnesses reported that Amini was severely beaten by the morality police before she died in custody, though Iranian authorities attributed her death to “sudden heart failure.” Her death sparked massive protests that persist despite threats of arrest and imprisonment.

 

 

A woman who sustained multiple fractures during police action against protesters described the feeling of constant surveillance. “Our situation remains the same. We are living in a prison, being watched throughout the day and night. It feels like being naked despite wearing a hijab, as drones, cameras, and other surveillance technologies are tracking our every moment,” she told The Telegraph, requesting anonymity due to fear of reprisals.

 

One of the most significant tools in this surveillance network is a government-backed mobile application called Nazer, meaning “to watch.” Initially designed to report women for dress code violations in private vehicles, its scope was expanded in September 2024 to include taxis, ambulances, and public transport. When a violation is reported, authorities receive a real-time alert containing details such as the vehicle’s license plate number. The owner is then notified via text message, and repeat offenders risk having their vehicles confiscated. “They take away our cars and penalize us for showing dissent. We could not use our cars,” the woman added.

 

These measures fall under Iran’s Noor (Enlightenment) plan, launched in April 2024 at the request of the judiciary. Under this initiative, police officers are deployed nationwide to target women accused of “promoting social anomalies” by appearing in public without a hijab. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has also mobilized civilian enforcers, known as “ambassadors of kindness,” to monitor compliance in markets, parks, and public transportation. According to the UN report, at least 618 women have been detained under this program, with many facing legal action based on photographic evidence and security reports. Punishments range from fines to harsher sentences.

 

“For two years, Iran has refused to adequately acknowledge the demands for equality and justice that fueled the protests in 2022. The criminalization, surveillance, and continued repression of protesters, families of victims, and survivors—particularly women and girls—is deeply worrying,” said Sara Hossain, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission.

 

The crackdown has also included corporal punishment. On November 23, Roshnak Alishah was lashed 14 times after being convicted of “disturbing public chastity.” She had previously been arrested for posting a video of herself without a hijab while confronting a man who had harassed her. Similarly, in March, well-known Iranian singer Mehdi Yarrahi was flogged 74 times for releasing a song critical of the mandatory hijab.

 

Meanwhile, Iran’s parliament has been working to implement even stricter hijab laws under the Hijab and Chastity bill. If passed, women could face up to 10 years in prison or fines as high as $12,000 (£9,000) for failing to comply. The bill would also expand the power of security forces and private citizens to enforce hijab rules. While its implementation, originally scheduled for December 2024, has been temporarily suspended by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, human rights groups fear the delay is only procedural and that the government will ultimately push forward with harsher restrictions.

 

Beyond digital surveillance, authorities have introduced so-called “clinics” where young girls caught without a hijab would undergo “scientific and psychological treatment” to correct their behavior. The UN report also sheds light on severe abuses within Iran’s judicial system, describing it as lacking independence and often persecuting victims of state violence. In addition to detailing cases of extrajudicial killings, including the execution of three child protesters, the report documents instances where authorities falsely labeled killings as suicides.

 

One of the most harrowing findings concerns sexual violence in detention. A female detainee recounted being subjected to brutal beatings, two staged executions, and multiple sexual assaults, including gang rape, during her imprisonment in 2023. “One day, like my friends, I’ll leave this doomed country and never return. Iranian women are brave and fighting every day, but a change seems impossible because they don’t care about women. They have guns and no mercy, we are unarmed and powerless,” said one protester.

 

The UN’s findings will be formally presented to the Human Rights Council on March 18.

 

Based on a report by The Telegraph  2025-03-18