Iran Elections 2021: Tehran hardliners wage war against Instagram
Iran’s presidential elections are supposed to be held in the
winter of 2021, and with social media playing a major role in the Iranian
street since the Green Revolution in 2009, the hardline movement in Tehran has
sought to confront social media, especially Instagram.
Muhammad Qumi, head of Iran’s Islamic Development
Organization, called for banning Instagram, saying that the application
threatens the stability of the regime, in a repeat of calls by hardliners to shut
down the application.
Qomi said during an open session of parliament last Sunday,
"The application accounts for between 60-70% of the bandwidth of the
country," and he called for holding both the minister of communications
and the head of the cyber agency accountable, considering that "there is
no control over cyberspace."
Qomi's criticism of Instagram's popularity comes after a
wave of arrests against celebrities and activists on the popular site.
Revolutionary Guards
In turn, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) accused the
United States of using social media to target the regime of Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei.
In a speech in May 2019, the head of the Iranian Civil
Defense Organization and commander in the IRGC, Brigadier General Gholam Reza
Jalali, declared, “The United States uses social media to wage psychological
warfare in order to influence the minds of Iranians,” adding that “Washington
has the opportunity to exercise soft power in exploiting Iran’s lack of a
national defense network and its weak economy, using social media to put its
forces in full swing in the war against us.”
"We will shut down social media and stop the United
States from directing Iranian public opinion through it. The United States will
also lose its influence from economic sanctions if war breaks out," the
hardline leader declared.
Facebook and Twitter
Earlier, the Iranian regime banned Facebook and Twitter, as
well as Telegram, which is used by about 81 million people in Iran. The
Iranians have instead resorted to using VPN blocking programs, whether for
business, personal, or entertainment.
Human rights organizations warn that "the authorities’
real goal is to tighten control over people's use of the internet." The
Iranian government, meanwhile, launched alternative Iranian versions of
Telegram, but people have been warned that it is not safe.
Iranian journalist Farid Madrasi linked the issue to next year’s election, saying on Twitter, "The attacks on social media are led by a hardline group that wants to ban Instagram before the presidential elections next year."
