Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi:

Cyberspace ‘double-edged sword’

Rasa – Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi stated that that cyberspace is a “double-edged sword” and there are both good and bad uses for the Internet and added that we must be aware of the enemies’ use of these new technologies against us.

News ID: 3435

Date: 04 October 2015 - 20:26

RNA – In a meeting with the secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC), Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi stressed the importance of cyberspace and the need to monitor it.

His Eminence reiterated that cyberspace should not be seen with a commercial approach but rather with a cultural approach, adding “a bad memory we have from the cyberspace is that cyberspace’s commercial perspective is given precedence over a cultural perspective."

Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi referred to the dangers available online – which, according to him, includes indecent films, videos, news sources, social media, and even encyclopedia’s which contain false information. He explained that the enemies use these to influence our people, especially the younger generations.

He explained that Iran must not turn into a consumer for the western culture.

“Western cultural products do not have any red lines – promiscuity and immoral acts and things which are damaging to our morals have been seen in Western cultural products. We are committed to ethical and cultural issues and have commitments and red lines and we believe that any technology should be refined,” he said.

The revered source of emulation stressed that this Western culture has had negative effects on the Iranian-Islamic family system.

Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi also stressed that it should be noted that cyberspace is a “double-edged sword” and there are many good uses for the Internet, but added: “One side of this sword is sharper than the other side, we must make the positive side sharper than its negative side.”

He explained that the seminary can be a good source of content in cyberspace and the Internet can be used to promote pure Islam and the teachings of the Ahlul-Bayt and we can use it to answer the doubts and anti-Islamic propaganda disseminated by the enemies’ media and satellite networks which broadcast around the clock in the Muslim world.

In regard to the positive uses of the Internet, he cited a hadith from Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq which states that knowledge and learning will spread to the East and West from the city of Qom and stated that Islamic scholars and missionaries can use the Internet to publish and translate Islamic knowledge into different languages and reach a wider audience.

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