SMS texting is currently the largest independent network for exchanging information in Iran, but Bluetooth wireless technology is the one to watch out for.

In Iran, the main purpose of having a mobile phone, which is to make calls, long ago given way to its secondary functions, such as sending picture and sound files. Given the particular circumstances in this country, the mobile phone has become the tool for a virtual social network whose currency is anything from political news to love letters, philosophy and the latest jokes, even pornography.

However, cell phone messaging is now being challenged by a newer technology – Bluetooth, the wireless system which allows individuals to exchange music, pictures and video between computers and also phones.

Unlike SMS, Bluetooth is all about face-to-face, direct interaction between individuals. That makes it particularly suited to a place like Iran, which has a very strong oral culture. And so it could be about to take off in a big way.

Not long ago, the official in charge of internet matters at the Tehran city prosecutor’s office announced that the government’s extensive filtering of internet sites has had the unintended consequence of increasing the traffic in SMS messages containing what he called “immoral and anti-religious” material.

The shift from internet to texting is a reflection of how Iranians migrate from one technology to the next in a bid to evade restrictions. Bluetooth may just be the ultimate replacement for the others. It’s far cheaper than SMS, it’s more secure, and it has more features like the ability to share an entire feature film. It is more effective all round.

One important feature of Bluetooth technology is that it is impossible to track and control, so it creates a safe, private sphere. That’s an improvement on text messages, which the Iranian communications ministry can easily monitor.

The power of the new technology to mobilise public opinion can be seen from what happened after a 90-second film was circulated purportedly showing the rape of an 18-year-old girl by a number of Afghans in Varamin. The town was on the brink of a massacre of Afghans, and this was only averted by swift action from the authorities.

Bluetooth is also used as a vehicle for more harmless activities, such as distributing the latest Iranian and western music, and also as an outlet for the underground music industry.

It’s also a good way of passing on political news and humour. pieces and pictures not easily accessible elsewhere. A few months ago, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was speaking at a semi-official function when a member of the audience used a mobile phone to record him making a gaffe. The president made the odd claim that a 16-year-old Iranian girl had managed to produce nuclear energy only with the aid of kitchen utensils. The footage was distributed widely via wireless technology in the course of a single week, and it created a minor political crisis.

Bluetooth has also become the highway for through which pornographic and violent films have reached a wider audience than ever before. Until now, this material has mainly been available to computer users on the internet, which means mainly young people. But now, for the price of the right phone handset, these films are accessible to ordinary Iranians who have not been exposed to the internet. The easy availability of porn films, particularly made in Iran, could bring about a rapid change in views about sex.

On a lighter note, boys and girls are using Bluetooth as a tool for finding each other and starting relationships. At shopping centres, coffee shops, cinemas and in the suburbs, wireless technology is carrying flirtatious chat, jokes and phone numbers. “Turn on the Bluetooth” is the latest catchphrase among males in Tehran aged from eighteen to twenty-two.

The Iranian authorities are trying to keep up with the technology as they pursue their goal of a morally pure society. The state telecoms company has even set up a special unit to keep an eye on phone messaging. And the judicial authorities have slapped a ban on a project to introduce multi-functional messaging via mobiles. They are concerned that it could be abused to send inappropriate material around a community that now totals twenty-four million – in other words everyone who has a mobile phone.

All in all, the impact of Bluetooth and other mobile communication systems is much more powerful and extensive than might appear at first sight.

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This article is an abridged and translated version of the full original text published on the Farsi pages of Mianeh, with editorial adjustments agreed with the writer made to provide clarity for English-language readers.