( CNN ) -- In another move to crack down on information flowing out of Iran , the Islamic Republic 's judicial chief has ordered the prosecution of individuals `` who cooperate with satellite television programming providers , '' a reformist newspaper reported Sunday . Iran 's judicial chief reportedly has ordered the prosecution of people who `` collaborate '' with satellite TV networks . `` The individuals , who in any way collaborate with these networks or are entrenched in the nucleus of organizations which are active through Internet sites , must be adequately and properly subject to legal actions . It is imperative that this phenomenon be seriously dealt with by all judicial authorities of the country as well as by provincial judicial authorities , '' Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi said in his order , which was quoted by the newspaper Hamshahri . The ayatollah called on local judicial heads to work with investigators to determine `` intentions , objectives and their sources of financial , political and intelligence support '' of individuals who `` operate against the system , '' according to Hamshahri , a widely circulated pro-reform publication that has been in print for more than a decade . The scope of the reported threat and whether it was referring to international networks , reporters and stringers was not immediately clear . Because international journalists have been limited in their ability to gather news in Iran , CNN has not been able to confirm the news report . However , the government has been trying to limit the flow of online information and other forms of communications in Iran , according to activists and human rights officials . Since June 12 , when disputed presidential election results sent tens of thousands of Iranians into the streets to protest , the world got a front-row view of the unrest thanks largely to dissidents using online tools to spread the news . News from Internet users has been important as Iran 's government began kicking out some reporters from traditional media outlets , arresting others and restricting the movements of those who remained . More than 1,000 people have been arrested over the election fallout , including several journalists , according to the international human rights watchdog Amnesty International . Most recently , the semi-official Fars News Agency reported that a journalist for Newsweek magazine who was arrested in Tehran confessed to doing the bidding of Western governments , though CNN could not verify the report . Maziar Bahari , 42 , made his alleged confession at a news conference Tuesday . Fars reported that the Canadian-Iranian reporter , who had worked for the BBC and England 's Channel 4 network , admitted having filed false reports for Newsweek during the elections . The magazine has rejected the allegation . CNN 's Doug Gross contributed to this report .
Reported move followed other efforts by Iran to block journalists coming out of country . Iran began kicking out , detaining journalists shortly after disputed March 12 elections . Rights group : Hundreds of journalists have been arrested over the political fallout .