Iran General NewsTwitter Suspends Iran News Outlets for Harassment of Baha’is

Twitter Suspends Iran News Outlets for Harassment of Baha’is

-

Social media company Twitter has suspended several accounts belonging to Iranian news agencies for their alleged harassment of people who follow the Baha'i faith; a persecuted religious minority in Iran.

By Pooya Stone

Social media company Twitter has suspended several accounts belonging to Iranian news agencies for their alleged harassment of people who follow the Baha’i faith; a persecuted religious minority in Iran.

On Saturday, state-run news agencies IRNA and Mehr, as well as Young Journalists Club (YJC), run by state broadcaster IRIB, were just some of the Farsi-language accounts suspended on Saturday, while Fars agency and English-language Press TV remain active.

The affected agencies suspected that their suspensions were linked to their reporting of increasing tensions in the Persian Gulf, specifically their coverage of Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in Omani territorial waters on Friday.

YJC called it the result of “British pressure on the operators of this social network” and Mehr said that it didn’t know the reason, but noted that its account had been suspended shortly after the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) seizure of the tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

However, a Twitter source confirmed to the BBC and several other news outlets that the accounts were suspended for coordinated, targeted, and ongoing harassment of Baha’is.

The sources said: “We have suspended a series of accounts for multi-account abuse and other forms of platform manipulation. These accounts were engaging in coordinated and targeted harassment of people associated with the Bahai faith.”

There are over 300,000 members of the Baha’i community in Iran, a denomination of Islam that broke off from the major religion about 150 years ago in Iran, and around five million members worldwide.

But Iran does not recognise the religion, considering it unorthodox, so followers are harassed, prosecuted and imprisoned. In fact, Baha’is say that hundreds have been killed since the clerical authorities took power and many more have been imprisoned and tortured.

Instead, Human Rights Watch said that Baha’is access to education is also severely restricted with members of the religion banned from enrolling at universities and expelled if their faith is found out.

The account of Iran’s hard-line Speaker Ali Akbar Raefipoor is also offline, although it should be noted that there is no real distinction between hard-line and moderate clerics in the regime as all work to ensure that the wishes of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are carried out, according to Iran observers.

Twitter has previously banned thousands of fake accounts linked to a cyber campaign by the Iranian authorities.

While Twitter is officially banned in Iran, it does not apply to prominent government members or institutions. Ordinary Iranians access the service using virtual private networks (VPNs).

Latest news

 Statistics show that New Year accidents’ deaths in Iran reached 585

Ahmad Shirani, the head of the Information and Traffic Control Center of the Iranian regime’s police, announced that the...

Land Subsidence in Critical Conditions in Isfahan

Mehdi Toghyani, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament), pointed to the occurrence of land subsidence in various...

Iran’s Actual Inflation Rate Higher Than Official Stats

The state-run Donya-e-eqtesad newspaper, in a report analyzing the "general sentiment" regarding inflation in 2023, has stated that households...

Iranian Workers’ Monthly $136 Wages Can’t Cover $500 Expenses

The lives of a significant portion of the Iranian population are marked by uncertainty, largely because the Iranian economy...

Iranian Nurses Earn Twice Their Wages in Ride-Hailing Services

Reza Aryanpour, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) Health and Treatment Commission, highlighted the growing trend of nurses...

Iran: Unprecedented Record of 152 Million Liters of Gasoline Consumption Per Day

On March 19, Iran set a new historical record in gasoline consumption with 152 million liters consumed in one...

Must read

John Bolton: Iran deal an ‘abject surrender’ for US

The Hill: President George W. Bush’s ambassador to the...

Iran-North Korea pact draws concern

Wall Street Journal: Obama administration officials are raising alarms...

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you