While the 2015 nuclear deal will likely be the deciding factor for the Iranian vote, internet policy and censorship is often the barometer for gauging how progressive and appealing a politician is to Iran's 80 million population, dominated by tech-savvy youth under 35.

The 2009 presidential elections became the first instance where the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad administration government made serious efforts to take control of the Internet. Weeks before voting, the government had seen the momentum of the reformist, or Green Movement, presidential candidates on social media, and censored Facebook and Twitter to curtail mobilization. The movement was only strengthened with Ahmadinejad's reelection, which many called fraudulent.

The government responded by temporarily cutting the country off from the internet. Then they started to censor and control the internet through Cyber Crimes Laws—federal regulations approved shortly after the 2009 protests that criminalizes behaviors the government deems inappropriate online. The Supreme Council of Cyberspace created in 2012 was also a push to centralize Internet policy under the hardline Supreme Leader.