Subscription Video on Demand and Video Content Regulation in Iran

Abstract This article examines catalogue curation and content policies for subscription video-on-demand ( svod ) platforms in Iran, focusing on Filimo, Namava, and Filmnet. It argues that the regulatory environment in Iran is one of the possible reasons why international svod s have yet to establish their presence in Iran. This paper contends that the Islamic Republic exerts various types of control strategies to regulate what is classified as the public and private screen spheres. It explores the reasons behind this categorisation and examines why content policies for both national and foreign content on svod platforms, viewed as private spheres, are less restrictive compared to those imposed on public screens. It discusses how these regulations determine the availability and discoverability of Iranian and non-Iranian video content on these platforms and their censorship obligations. A selection of censored scenes in The Queen’s Gambit on Filimo is analysed to investigate the censorship process for non-Iranian content.