Iran's Preventive Legislative Criminal Policy Regarding the Activities of Information Technology Commercial Platforms

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD student in Criminal Law and Criminology, Department of Criminal and Criminology Law, Faculty of Law, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Prof., Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

3 Professor, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

4 Professor, Department of Intellectual Property Law, Faculty of Law, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
The advancement of information and communication technologies (ICT) has profoundly transformed the social, economic, and legal structures of modern societies, steering human life toward digitalization. In this digital era, commercial information technology platforms have become fundamental pillars in economic, social, and even political domains. While facilitating daily activities, these platforms have simultaneously created fertile ground for emerging forms of cybercrime, which—due to their complex, transnational, and technologically dynamic nature—pose serious challenges to traditional criminal justice systems. In light of the rapid growth of platform-based criminality and the undeniable role of digital platforms in enabling such offenses, it is both urgent and necessary to evaluate and redesign Iran's legislative preventive criminal policy in this context. This study aims to examine the structure and effectiveness of Iran's current legislative criminal policy in addressing criminal activities on commercial platforms and to identify its deficiencies while proposing the need for a new policy framework grounded in modern criminal policy principles.
 
Methods
This study employs a descriptive-analytical approach and relies on document-based legal research. It examines key legislative instruments relevant to platform-based cybercrime in Iran, including the Computer Crimes Act, the Electronic Commerce Act, the Crime Prevention Act, the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Counter-Terrorist Financing Act, the Protection of Children and Adolescents Act, and selected resolutions of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace. These legal instruments are analyzed with a focus on their preventive potential, normative consistency, and practical alignment with contemporary goals of crime prevention in cyberspace. Upon identifying the structural and normative inefficiencies of Iran's preventive legislation vis-à-vis platform criminality, the study underscores the necessity of formulating a modern preventive criminal policy. Policy proposals themselves are not within the scope of this paper but are suggested as avenues for future research to fill the identified theoretical and regulatory gaps.
 
Results and Discussion
The findings reveal that Iran's legislative criminal policy in response to crimes committed via information technology platforms suffers from a lack of institutional coherence and practical effectiveness. There are substantial legal voids concerning the criminal liability of platforms, the implementation of intelligent and technology-based preventive measures, systematic risk assessment, and structural transparency. Current legal provisions primarily rely on content filtering and blocking, without incorporating data-driven, algorithmic, or AI-powered prevention strategies. Although situational crime prevention tools—such as mandatory content removal and suspicious pattern detection—are present in some statutes, they lack robust enforcement mechanisms and broad applicability to digital platforms. Furthermore, the fragmentation of regulatory authorities and the absence of a central specialized regulatory body have rendered the state's response to platform-based criminality slow, reactive, and often ineffective. While the Electronic Commerce Act and the Cheque Issuance Law contain elements that could support non-penal preventive frameworks, they remain rooted in traditional paradigms and fail to engage with platform-specific risks. In the realm of child protection, although platforms are legally obligated to remove harmful content, no binding supervisory mechanisms have been established. Ultimately, the overreliance on content filtering, in place of strategic technological intervention, has not only failed to mitigate cybercrime but has also contributed to the erosion of public trust and the rise of user resistance. Moreover, the analysis shows that the existing regulatory framework, despite containing fragmented preventive elements, lacks technological appendices, clear procedural obligations for platforms, and enforceable standards of preventive compliance. Preventive mechanisms outlined in the Supreme Council of Cyberspace's resolutions—such as access restriction and platform filtering—are primarily reactive in nature and do not reflect intelligent crime prevention models. The continued application of this outdated approach has led to unintended consequences, such as the proliferation of anti-filtering tools and an increase in cybersecurity threats, further undermining the effectiveness of Iran's platform governance.

Conclusion
This study concludes that Iran's current legislative preventive criminal policy toward criminal activities on commercial information technology platforms is outdated, inefficient, and institutionally fragmented. To effectively combat the rise of platform-based cybercrime and restore public trust, a paradigm shift is essential—one that adopts soft regulation, enforces platform accountability, encourages public and private sector participation, and leverages modern technologies. Without a fundamental reconfiguration of the preventive criminal policy in this domain, the prospects for effective crime prevention remain dim, and the legitimacy and functionality of the criminal justice system may face serious long-term challenges.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

References
Aghababaei Taghanaki, A., Ghadiri Bahram Abadi, R. and Amini, M. (2025). Consequences of Preventing Anti-Social Behaviour through Community Protection Notices in the UK. Journal of Legal Studies, 17(3), 259-290. Doi: 10.22099/jls.2025.51333.5220 [In Persian]
Alipour, H. (2016). Information Technology Criminal Law (4th ed.). Khorsandi Publications. [In Persian]
Anderson Jr, E. G., Parker, G. G., & Tan, B. (2014). Platform performance investment in the presence of network externalities. Information Systems Research, 25(1), 152–172. Doi: 10.1287/isre.2013.0505
Asadi, M. and Varvaee, A. (2019). Legislative Criminal Policy of Iran on Terrorism against Water. Criminal law and Criminology Studies, 49(1), 1-16. doi: 10.22059/jqclcs.2019.73341 [In Persian]
Azimzadeh, Sh., & Sheikh-al-Eslami, G. (2019). Principles of Criminology: From Foundations to Theories (2nd ed.). Dorandishan Publications. [In Persian]
Babaei, J. (2020). Computer Crimes and Their Governing Criminal Procedure. Judiciary’s Press and Publications Center. [In Persian]
Babaei, M. A., & Mahdavi, D. (2012). Criminal Matters and Their Status in the Iranian Legal System. Criminal Law Doctrines, 9(3), 101-128. [In Persian]
Bell, R. (2003). Abolishing the concept of ‘predicate offence’. Journal of Money Laundering Control, 6(2), 137–140. Doi: 10.1108/13685200310809482
Bergvall‐Kåreborn, B., & Howcroft, D. (2014). Persistent problems and practices in information systems development: A study of mobile applications development and distribution. Information Systems Journal, 24(5), 425–444. Doi: 10.1111/isj.12036
Ceccagnoli, M., Forman, C., Huang, P., & Wu, D. (2012). Cocreation of value in a platform ecosystem: The case of enterprise software. MIS Quarterly, 36(1), 263–290. Doi: 10.2307/41410417
Clarke, R. V. (1980). Situational crime prevention: Theory and practice. British Journal of Criminology, 20, 136–147. Doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a047153
Clarke, R. V. (1995). Situational crime prevention. Crime and Justice, 19, 91–150. Doi: 10.1086/449230
Delmas-Marty, M. (1991). Les grands systèmes de politique criminelle. FeniXX.
Dhar, V., & Sundararajan, A. (2007). Issues and opinions: Information technologies in business: A blueprint for education and research. Information Systems Research, 18(2), 125–141. Doi: 10.1287/isre.1070.0126
Drahokoupil, J., & Fabo, B. (2016). The platform economy and the disruption of the employment relationship. ETUI Research Paper-Policy Brief, 5. Doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2809517
Espinoza, M. D. (2024). How Platforms Inadvertently Facilitate Fraud and Cybercrime. In Change Dynamics in Healthcare, Technological Innovations, and Complex Scenarios (pp. 231-245). IGI Global. Doi: 10.4018/979-8-3693-3555-0.ch014
Feuerbach, P. v. (1833). Blick auf die teutsche Rechtswissenschaft. FEUERBACH A. von: Kleine Schriften vermischten Inhalts. Nürnberg: Otto, 152-177.
Fichman, R. G. (2004). Real options and IT platform adoption: Implications for theory and practice. Information Systems Research, 15(2), 132–154. Doi: 10.1287/isre.1040.0021
Hosseini, S. H., Maleki, N. and Kazemi, M. M. (2025). Distancing from the General Principles of Criminal Law in Specific Laws: A Case Study of the Note on Article 7 of the Law on Protection of “Amr bil Ma’ruf wa Nahy anil Munkar”. Journal of Legal Studies, 17(2), 499-532. Doi: 10.22099/jls.2024.50546.5179 [In Persian]
Guarda, C. G. (2017). La política criminal aplicada (PCA): La deriva de la política criminal hacia la política pública. Nuevo Foro Penal, 13(88), 185-216.
Hagiu, A. (2014). Strategic decisions for multisided platforms. MIT Sloan Management Review, 55(2), 71–80.
Hamilton, R. J. (2022). Platform-enabled crimes: Pluralizing accountability when social media companies enable perpetrators to commit atrocities. Boston College Law Review, 63, 1349–1399.
Ho, H., Ko, R., & Mazerolle, L. (2022). Situational crime prevention (SCP) techniques to prevent and control cybercrimes: A focused systematic review. Computers & Security, 115, Article 102611. Doi: 10.1016/j.cose.2022.102611
Holmen, S. J. (2024). Situational crime prevention, advice giving, and victim-blaming. Philosophia, 52(2), 325–340. Doi: 10.1007/s11406-024-00729-1
Hossein, S. and Azari Matin, A. (2016). Preventing Money Laundering in Monetary and Banking System. Criminal Law Doctrines, 12(10), 135-154. [In Persian]
Hosseini, S. E. (2020). Assistant Professor of Law, Imam Khomeini Educational and Research Institute, Iran. Bi-Quarterly Journal of Islamic Studies on Social Injuries, 1(2), 23-42. [In Persian]
Jain, H., Rothenberger, M., & Sugumaran, V. (2006). Flexible software component design using a product platform approach. Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS).
Julakanti, S. R., Sattiraju, N. S. K., & Julakanti, R. (2023). Data protection through governance frameworks. Journal of Computational Analysis and Applications, 31(1), 158–162. Doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2502.10404
Kemshall, H. (2003). Understanding risk in criminal justice. Open University Press.
Kesari, A., Hoofnagle, C., & McCoy, D. (2017). Deterring cybercrime: Focus on intermediaries. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 32, 1093–1125.
Khoramabadi, A. (2012). Criminal Liability of Internet Service Providers (1st ed.). Dadyar Publications. [In Persian]
Kraemer, T., Hinz, O., & Skiera, B. (2010). Return on IT investments in two-sided markets. Information Systems Research, 21(4), 672–690.
Kwan, M.-P. (2002). Time, information technologies, and the geographies of everyday life. Urban Geography, 23(5), 471–482. Doi: 10.2747/0272-3638.23.5.471
Kwon, K. H., & Shao, C. (2021). Dark knowledge and platform governance: A case of an illicit e-commerce community in reddit. American Behavioral Scientist, 65(6), 779-799. Doi: 10.1177/0002764221989770
Lahiri, A., Dewan, R. M., & Freimer, M. (2010). The disruptive effect of open platforms on markets for wireless services. Journal of Management Information Systems, 27(3), 81–110. Doi: 10.2753/MIS0742-1222270304
Lazerges, C. (2000). Introduction à la politique criminelle. L'Harmattan.
Meyer, M. H., & Seliger, R. (1998). Product platforms in software development. MIT Sloan Management Review.
Moro Visconti, R. (2020). Corporate governance, digital platforms, and network theory: Information and risk-return sharing of connected stakeholders. Management Control, 2, 179–204. Doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3533862
Naeiminzhad, M. (2024). Criminal Policy-Making Concerning Cybercrimes [Doctoral dissertation, University of Shiraz]. [In Persian]
Rai, A., Patnayakuni, R., & Seth, N. (2006). Firm performance impacts of digitally enabled supply chain integration capabilities. MIS Quarterly, 30(2), 225–246. Doi: 10.2307/25148729
Rai, A., Patnayakuni, R., & Seth, N. (2006). Firm performance impacts of digitally enabled supply chain integration capabilities. MIS quarterly, 225-246. Doi: 10.2307/25148729
Riemer, K., & Richter, A. (2010). Social software: Agents for change or platforms for social reproduction? A case study on enterprise microblogging. Journal of Information Technology, 25(3), 259–272.
Rusanov, G., & Pudovochkin, Y. (2018). Money laundering and predicate offenses: Models of criminological and legal relationships. Journal of Money Laundering Control, 21(1), 22–32. Doi: 10.1108/JMLC-12-2016-0048
Sabooripour, M. and Alipour, S. (2023). Preventing Terrorism by Combating Financial Resources. The Quarterly Journal of Judicial Law Views, 23(84), 125-146. [In Persian]
Sadeghi, M. H., Ebrahimi, S. and Naeimi Nezhad, M. (2024). The Principles of Criminal Policy-making in Cyberspace: from Divergence to Convergence. Iranian Journal of Public Policy, 10(1), 158-176. Doi: 10.22059/jppolicy.2024.97826 [In Persian]
Sun, R., Gregor, S., & Keating, B. (2015). Information technology platforms: Conceptualisation and a review of emerging research in IS research. Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) 2015 Proceedings.
Szabo, D. (1978). Criminologie et politique criminelle. Vrin.
Tan, B., Pan, S. L., Lu, X., & Huang, L. (2015). The role of IS capabilities in the development of multi-sided platforms: The digital ecosystem strategy of Alibaba.com. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 16(4), 2. Doi: 10.17705/1jais.00393
Taudes, A., Feurstein, M., & Mild, A. (2000). Options analysis of software platform decisions: A case study. MIS Quarterly, 24(2), 227–243. Doi: 10.2307/3250937
Tirgar, Z., Taheri Bajd, M. A. and Hashemi, S. H. (2024). Iran's Criminal Policy on Growth-Oriented Prevention in Cyberspace: Lessons and Strategies. Journal of Law and Political Studies, 4(2), 177-193. doi: 10.48309/jlps.2024.2.2 [In Persian]
Tiwana, A., Konsynski, B., & Bush, A. A. (2010). Research commentary: Platform evolution—Coevolution of platform architecture, governance, and environmental dynamics. Information Systems Research, 21(4), 675–687. Doi: 10.1287/isre.1100.0323
Volkov, V., & Sidorenko, E. (2022). Digital platforms and issues of corporate criminal responsibility, self-regulation. In Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference “Smart Nations: Global Trends in the Digital Economy” (Vol. 1). Doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-94873-3_1
West, J. K. (2019). An introduction to online platforms and their role in the digital transformation. Available at SSRN 4669281. Doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4669281
Willison, R., & Siponen, M. (2009). Overcoming the insider: Reducing employee computer crime through situational crime prevention. Communications of the ACM, 52(9), 133–137. Doi: 10.1145/1562164.1562198
Yavari, A. (2015). From criminal Law to criminal matters. Journal of Legal Studies, 7(2), 221-258. Doi: 10.22099/jls.2015.3218
Journal of Legal Studies
Volume 18, Issue 3 - Serial Number 58
October 2026
Pages 471-512

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics