69 Percent Of Young Iranians Use Software To Get Around Internet Filtering

"Of the 67.4 percent of Iranian young people who use the internet, 19.1% use the net for chatting, 15.3% for the social media, 15.2% for games and fun-surfing, and 10.4% use the World Wide Web for scientific researches," the director of the Center for Research and Strategic Studies said.

"50.1% of the participants [in the survey] were male and the remaining 49.9% were females," Mohammad Taqi Hassanzadeh added.

Hassanzadeh added that less than 5% of the Iranian youths use the net to surf pornographic sites and 12.3% also use it to download movies, pictures, and music.

69% use anti-internet filters

Hassanzadeh also added that 69.3% of Iranian young people reported using anti-internet filter software to be able to surf through blocked websites.

He also added that 82% of respondents said they are proud of being Muslims and another 82.6% said they oppose finding life partners on the virtual world.

The official also stated that according to the survey, 41.8% of respondents approved of the efficiency of formal education, and 58.3% hold the government responsible for taking care of their free time.

The survey also found out that 30% of Iranian youths never play any sports and 40.6% reported discontent with health care facilities of the country.

According to the survey, Hassanzade said, 45.5% of participants reported trust in news broadcast by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), and 76.4% of them said they believe boys and girls should obey Islamic codes in their relations.

Hassanzadeh also refered to Iran's high rate of brain drain and stated that, according to the survey, 43.3% of Iranian young people say they would like to emigrate to another country, hoping to find "higher standards of living and better welfare".

The survey also asked the participants on their biggest concerns, Hassanzadeh said, adding that it was found that 30.6% of the youth considered financial issues as their biggest concern, while 28.9% chose unemployment, 10.8% university acceptance, and 7.5% marriage issues as their biggest worries.