Editing Communications in Iran (section)

===Usage===
{{See also|Education in Iran#Internet and distance education|Blogging in Iran|Internet censorship in Iran|l1=Distance education in Iran}}
Full [[Internet]] service is available in all major cities and it is very rapidly increasing. Many small towns and even some villages now have full Internet access. The government aims to provide 10% of government and commercial services via the Internet by end-2008 and to equip every school with computers and Internet connections by the same date.<ref name="EIU"/> The Internet has become an expanding means to accessing information and self-expression among the younger population. Iran is also the world's fourth largest country of [[Iranian blogs|bloggers]] with approx. 60,000 [[Persian language|Persian]] blogs<ref name="opennet.net"/><ref>[[Iranian blogs]]</ref> although [[Internet censorship in Iran]] is amongst the most restrictive and sophisticated in the world.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7589 |title=Iranian net censorship powered by US technology – info-tech – 27 June 2005 |magazine=New Scientist |access-date=2012-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315222128/http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7589 |archive-date=15 March 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 2014, 67.4 percent of Iranian young people (between the ages of 15 and 29) use the internet.<ref name="tehrantimes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.tehrantimes.com/politics/118310-674-of-iranian-youths-use-internet-survey |title=67.4% of Iranian youths use internet: Survey - Tehran Times |access-date=2015-11-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114203445/http://www.tehrantimes.com/politics/118310-674-of-iranian-youths-use-internet-survey |archive-date=2015-01-14 }}</ref> 69.3% of Iranian young people reported using anti-internet [[filtering software]] to be able to surf through blocked websites.<ref name="tehrantimes.com"/> Three-fifths of Iranians use [[Facebook]].<ref name="payvand.com3">{{cite web|url=http://www.payvand.com/news/15/jun/1035.html|title=Report says Iranians spend nine hours a day on social media|website=www.payvand.com|access-date=2015-06-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612023732/http://www.payvand.com/news/15/jun/1035.html|archive-date=2015-06-12|url-status=live}}</ref> Iranians spend an average of nine hours on [[social media]] websites every day.<ref name="payvand.com3"/> according of the [[government of Iran]], the first stage of smart filtering for the internet has been successful and the second stage has been launched in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.payvand.com/news/15/jul/1166.html|title=Iran's "Smart filter" for internet now in second stage|website=www.payvand.com|access-date=2015-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150823203211/http://www.payvand.com/news/15/jul/1166.html|archive-date=2015-08-23|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2016, 40 percent of content used by Iranian Internet citizens are produced in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.payvand.com/news/16/nov/1017.html|title=Iran 'smart filters' 95 million explicit contents on Instagram|website=www.payvand.com|access-date=2016-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104160436/http://www.payvand.com/news/16/nov/1017.html|archive-date=2016-11-04|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Electronic commerce====
{{See also|Shetab Banking System|Central Bank of Iran#Payment systems|Industry of Iran#Retail industry|Intellectual property in Iran#E-commerce|Tehran Stock Exchange#Electronic trading and market data|l2=Payment systems in Iran|l3=Retail industry in Iran|l4=E-commerce and intellectual property in Iran|l5=E-trading in the Tehran Stock Exchange}}

Iran's electronic commerce was 10,000 billion rials ($1 billion) in March 2009 and growing 60% annually.<ref>[http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0812030911192309.htm IRNA: Iran's e-commerce to reach rls10,000b] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815143518/http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0812030911192309.htm |date=2009-08-15 }} Retrieved December 3, 2008</ref> Online-sales reached $300,000 per day in 2014 with more than 20,000 active [[online stores]] with electronics being the most popular sale product.<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> In 2007, Tetra-Tech IT Company announced that using [[Visa Inc.|Visa]] and [[Mastercard]] is now possible for online sales and in Iranian e-card terminals at shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, and travel agencies for Iranians and foreign tourists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://payvand.com/news/07/feb/1159.html |title=VISA and MasterCard usage possible in Iran |publisher=Payvand.com |access-date=2012-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314031627/http://payvand.com/news/07/feb/1159.html |archive-date=2018-03-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Saman Bank]] was the first bank to introduce [[Shetab Banking System|online banking services in Iran]]. Since, it has been at the forefront of expansion and enhancement of electronic banking. In 2010, a state-linked technology group (the Rouyesh Technical Centre) established the country's first online supermarket.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/04/iran-launches-online-supermarket-internet | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Iran launches first online supermarket | first=Robert | last=Tait | date=2010-02-04 | access-date=2010-04-30 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909125216/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/04/iran-launches-online-supermarket-internet | archive-date=2013-09-09 | url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2015, the dollar value of [[e-commerce]] reached $17.4 billion. With the new ''national information network'', Internet speed has increased drastically. Iran's penetration rate of the internet stands at 82.12% (2016), with 19 million people using the internet on their mobile phones. As of 2016, 600 cities in Iran had access to [[3G]] networks and 200 cities had access to [[4G]] Internet. The rate of mobile phone penetration in Iran stands at 94.46%.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Iran is presently implementing a [[barcode]] system across the country in order to facilitate e-commerce and [[taxation in Iran|tax collection]]. The executive state organizations, which are the largest buyers of goods in the country, cannot buy and use goods that do not have the "[[Irancode]]".<ref>http://www.nitc.co.ir/iran-daily/1388/3438/html/economy.htm#s389754 {{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 2004 the [[Majlis of Iran|Majlis]] adopted the Electronic Commerce Law:<ref>{{cite web |title=Electronic Commerce Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran |url=http://www.irtp.com/data.asp?address=laws%2Fec%2FIR%20Iran%20E-Commerce%20Law.pdf |website=irtp|url-status=usurped |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070819171459/http://www.irtp.com/data.asp?address=laws%2Fec%2FIR%20Iran%20E-Commerce%20Law.pdf|archive-date = 2007-08-19}}</ref>
*Articles 62–66 of this law specify that [[Intellectual property in Iran|Iran's existing intellectual-property laws]] apply to all electronic transactions.
*Articles 33–49 of the Electronic Commerce Law of 2004 seek to ensure consumer protection in electronic transactions. This legislation ensures the right of consumers to complete disclosure of information by suppliers before, during and after electronic transactions. Also specified are the terms under which contracts for electronic commerce may be broken.
*Article 37 gives consumers seven days to withdraw from any contract without penalty.
*Article 42 stipulates that the protections laid down in this law do not apply to financial services, immovable property, automatic vending machines, transactions over public payphones and auctions.

The [[economy of Iran|Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010–15)]] has set the target of conducting electronically:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iran-daily.com/1390/7/14/MainPaper/4070/Page/4/Index.htm |title=No. 4070 &#124; Domestic Economy &#124; Page 4 |publisher=Irandaily |access-date=2012-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115131033/http://www.iran-daily.com/1390/7/14/MainPaper/4070/Page/4/Index.htm |archive-date=2012-01-15 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 80 percent of governmental transactions,
* 20 percent of domestic trade
* 30 percent of foreign trade.