Tag: Underground Iran

Iran cyber police target ‘un-Islamic’ stores on Instagram

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Authorities in Iran are cracking down on small businesses that sell “un-Islamic” clothing and other products on social media, notably Instagram. Owners of Instagram businesses say they have been contacted by the Islamic Republic’s cyber police, who take control of their pages, replacing images of their products with messages saying the pages have been closed for reasons of “#IslamicHijab” or that, “According to a court order, this page has been shut down”.

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While Iran’s notorious “morality police” have kept a low profile since the eruption of the “Woman Life, Freedom” protests in September 2022, the Islamic Republic’s cyber police have stepped in online, imposing their brand of “morality” on small businesses that rely on social media – many of them owned by women.

Iran’s cyber police, known as FATA, are responsible for monitoring illegal online activity such as child pornography, fraud, and drug and weapon sales. But in recent months they appear to have another priority: targeting small businesses on social media. While networks such as Facebook, Instagram, X, Whatsapp and Telegram have been blocked in Iran for years, millions of Iranian users use VPNs to bypass the censorship.

Clothing and lingerie designers, tattoo artists, massage therapists, tour guides, make-up artists … the businesses that are targeted promote what is perceived as a Western lifestyle, often with photos that violate Iran’s practice of Sharia law. Women appear on lingerie and fashion pages without Islamic hijab, their hair and arms visible. Women and men are seen touching each other on pages that promote tattooing or massages.

Their pages are taken over by the cyber police, and the content is replaced by an announcement: “This page has been closed by the Police for the Sphere of the Production and Exchange of information,” the official name of the FATA cyber police. Businesses that have spent years accumulating thousands of followers see their work and livelihood put on hold.


Despite the pressure from the Islamic regime in Iran on the small fashion designers who sell their products on Instagram, many of them continue their work under fear, as our Observer confirms. The photos have been blurred and modified by FRANCE 24 to ensure the security of the pages. © Observers

The online businesses’ motivations are usually economic, not political. Their owners cannot live without the income they earn from selling their products on social media, especially Instagram. According to a survey published in 2022, there are more than 415,000 small businesses on Instagram in Iran. The jobs of more than 1 million Iranians are directly and indirectly linked to these small businesses on Instagram.

This ceramics manufacturer, which sells its products on Instagram, removed these photos and ceased production of some of its items after Iran's cyber police FATA started targeting online businesses selling products deemed un-Islamic.
This ceramics manufacturer, which sells its products on Instagram, removed these photos and ceased production of some of its items after Iran’s cyber police FATA started targeting online businesses selling products deemed un-Islamic. © Observers

Pages that promote tattooing and massages are regular targets of Iran’s cyber police. However there are hundreds of tattoo artists and masseurs who are active on Instagram.
Pages that promote tattooing and massages are regular targets of Iran’s cyber police. However there are hundreds of tattoo artists and masseurs who are active on Instagram. © Observers

Another page closed by the police, where the police did not hesitate to also remove the bio and put a new hashtag in the bio: “#IslamicHijab”
Another page closed by the police, where the police did not hesitate to also remove the bio and put a new hashtag in the bio: “#IslamicHijab” © Observers

 

‘I am not going to change my lifestyle out of fear’

 

Tina [not her real name] is a small business owner in Iran. Her sales are solely dependent on her Instagram page. She designs and produces women’s clothes, including underwear, and her page features images that show female models with bare shoulders, arms and midriffs, in violation of Iran’s restrictive Islamic hijab rules. While Tina’s Instagram page has not yet been targeted by the police, she is concerned because many of her friends and colleagues with small businesses on Instagram have been ordered to close.

 

I have been running this page for about a year. My only source of income is my clothing, which I sell on my Instagram page. I also try to sell my stuff on Amazon, but it’s very complicated in Iran because we are under an international embargo.

I have several friends whose pages have been closed by the police. They have received either a text message or a phone call, in some cases even via their Instagram messages, asking them to go to the police. The police ask for their password, change the password, then delete all their content and replace it with a single post saying the page was shut down by the police.

In some cases, my friends were lucky that the police only asked them to delete certain photos and they were able to keep their page. I also have some other friends who have ended up in court and are awaiting trial.

This is so much stress that I don’t even want to think about it. My friends always warn me to be careful, but I just refuse to think about it.

I could do business differently, present my products differently. But firstly it would reduce my turnover. And secondly, why should I do that? I am not going to change my lifestyle out of fear of the regime.

Even if they close my page, if they delete my content, I will create a new page.

They can force me to sell my products without photos and videos of models on my page, but I will also make another anonymous page, with models. I will not give up.

What I do is completely normal. It’s the demands of the Islamic Republic that are abnormal.

I also have a personal battle to fight. My family is not very open-minded and they are not happy with what I am doing. They are not religious, but they are conservative. They have changed a lot in recent years, especially after the “Woman Life Freedom” movement, but they still don’t like it when their daughter publishes her photos in revealing clothes that I make to sell.

I don’t want to fight, I’m not an activist, but I will not change my lifestyle, the way I want to live, unless I am forced to. When you live in a country like Iran, you get used to always living in fear and threat, but we have to live our lives. That’s the way it is. 

 

In a further attack on the freedom of social media in Iran, Mohammad Mahdi Esmaili, the Iranian minister of culture, announced on January 31 that “all bloggers with more than 5,000 followers must apply for permission to continue working”.

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Proposed hijab penalties in Iran: ‘They can’t prosecute millions of women’

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One year ago this Saturday, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for wearing her hijab “improperly”. Her death led to massive anti-regime protests, known by their now-iconic slogan: “Woman, Life, Freedom”. The Observers team has been in regular contact with dozens of women across Iran over the past 12 months. Many of them have told us that it has become the “new normal” for millions of women in Iran to go out in public with their hair uncovered. But with a new law under discussion that would massively increase the penalties for hijab-related offenses, how long will these new freedoms last?

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While a year ago it was unusual to see women without hijab in public spaces in Iran, thousands of amateur images posted online – and the accounts of women inside the country – show that millions of Iranian women now routinely go out in public without the Islamic head covering. 

A new law is under discussion in the Iranian parliament that would increase the penalties for the improper wearing of hijab from the equivalent of 1 euro to 3,000 euros, and the maximum prison sentence from two months to 10 years. The proposed law has special measures for so-called “celebrities”, including the confiscation of 10 percent of their assets.

‘I no longer wear hijab in public spaces’

Sita (not her real name) is a young Iranian university student who lives in Tehran. Although she grew up in a religious family, she has decided to stop wearing a hijab.

After the protests started, this question in my head became louder and louder: Why do I have to seek permission from the state – from an ideology that I don’t even believe in – to live the way I want to live? I have found new courage to stand up for my choices, despite the risks.

In the last year, many things have changed for me. The first change was in my family. I feel that they are much more open-minded and look at women differently than they used to.

Since the death of Mahsa Amini, I no longer wear hijab in public spaces. Society has generally been supportive. Before the protests, if you went out in public without hijab, people would stare at you, even other women. Now, the most common reaction is a simple smile. Sometimes people say encouraging words when they pass by.

History has taught us that any change in society is difficult, and entrenched ideologies are difficult to crack. Despite all this, I see many changes in society. I have the feeling that many people who are religious and observant have asked themselves this question: “If I have the freedom to lead the lifestyle I choose, then girls and women on the street who do not wear hijab should have the same right to dress the way they want.” 

We’ve seen that Iranians are willing to pay the price for supporting women. The café owner accepts that his café might be closed down for a few days, but he does not ask the women in his café to wear the hijab. When men fight like this for women’s rights, it shows that a revolution has happened in a macho society.


Dancing for girls in public in Iran with no Islamic hijab could have a severe consequences, however many Instagram infeluencers share their videos.

‘They can’t prosecute the millions of women in the streets’

The “celebrities” targeted by the draft law could include social media influencers. One of the favourite targets for arrests by Iranian security forces in the weeks before the anniversary has been female influencers who post images of themselves without hijab to their tens of thousands of followers.

In recent months, several Iranian influencers have been arrested, among them a female motorcyclist, a young lifestyle and fashion influencer, a travel blogger and Sar, a teenager whose video of her with her friends in a shopping mall went viral.

Varia (not her real name) is a lifestyle influencer who lives in Shiraz. She talks about the pressure influencers face.

It’s scary. Every day I hear that a friend or colleague has been arrested, their bank account frozen or their car impounded. But I am glad that there are so many women who resist despite the threats and pressure by the regime. Even if they silence women who are so-called “celebrities”, they cannot prosecute the millions of women in the streets.

The most impressive change I have observed since a year ago is that verbal harassment of women on the street – which used to be not uncommon – has decreased. I have not had a bad experience in a year, even though I’m downtown working every day.

The private sector does not dare to require its female employees to wear hijab. As far as I can tell, people have made their peace with women’s personal choice. And what is even nicer is that these changes can be observed not only in the rich neighbourhoods of Tehran, but also in the poor neighbourhoods in the south of Tehran and in other cities. These changes are permanent, I think, they are the result of 40 years of resistance.


Elaheh Asgri is a travel blogger, she was recently arretsed for weeks.

Iranian authorities have also targeted Iran’s fast-growing start-up industry, accusing it of propagating Western values by allowing women to go to work without a hijab.

In recent months, several start-ups were targeted by security forces. Some of them had to stop working for weeks, others had their headquarters attacked or their executives arrested.

Shamila (not her real name) is a senior executive at a start-up in Tehran. She talks about her experience over the past year.

Most people who work in startups support the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests. Most women at start-ups like ours refuse to wear hijab. However, it is easier to bully start-ups than millions of women on the streets, one by one. The authorities send threatening letters and sometimes order start-ups to close their office for a few days. The companies that own the start-ups just want to avoid headaches and keep the money flowing.

I think this will force more Iranians than ever – especially talented women working in these startups – to migrate abroad.

The women we have been speaking to believe – or hope – that the protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death have changed Iranian society forever. But they say there is more to be done to remove the theocratic regime that governs their lives, and they will keep fighting.


Sar, a teenager influencer who’s one her video went viral and the she was arrested for days

Varia, the influencer, says:

For months I was preoccupied with the price we pay for these changes: People, teenagers and even children who have lost their lives. I wish all that spilt blood had made a bigger difference. But I think all that pain has led our society to where we are now.

This bloodshed has made the equation clear to everyone in Iran, I think: either we put an end to them or they put an end to us, there is no middle ground.

Sita is also optimistic about the future:

The war is not over yet, but so far we have won some battles. You can see by their actions that the regime is desperate; they are arresting singers, journalists, university professors. But I’m optimistic about the future of our country. I’m really focused on the present. What can I do? How can I help the protests to succeed?



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Iranian parliament to consider law targeting ‘celebrities’ who defy hijab law

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Under a new law under consideration in Iran, “celebrities” who defy the Islamic Republic’s hijab restrictions could find themselves facing confiscation of 10% of their total assets. The proposed bill is the latest effort by hardliners in the regime to suppress support for the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protest movement, in which many Iranian actors, athletes and social media influencers have participated in one way or another.

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On July 23, Iranian media reported that the Islamic Republic’s parliament plans to debate a bill that would take action against the widespread opposition of Iranian women to the hijab requirement in Iran. Under current law in Iran, any woman who does not cover her head and her body in public faces up to 2 months in prison or a fine of up to 50,000 tomans (one euro). The bill proposes strengthening those maximum penalties for all women to 10 years in prison and 150 million tomans (€3,000, 30 times the monthly minimum wage). The minimum monthly wage in Iran is about €110.

The bill, submitted by the parliament’s research centre, contains a special provision for “celebrities”, allowing the government to confiscate up to 10 percent of their wealth, and banning them from working in their field. for 15 years. The bill’s use of the word “celebrities”, an anglicism commonly used in Iran, means it could be used against a wide range of people. 

 





The research center wrote in a memo regarding the bill: “These new measures will be preemptive. They will make it impossible for our enemies to use public arrests by police for their own propaganda purposes.”   

The protests were sparked in September 2022 when Mahsa Amini died after being arrested by Iran’s so-called morality police known as “Garsht-e Ershad”. The unit halted their patrols soon afterward, but Iran’s police announced July 16 that patrols targeting “immoral clothing” had resumed. 

READ MORE: Morality police patrols return to Iran’s streets after 10 months

During the 10 months of protests, countless thousands of Iranian women have chosen to stop wearing hijab and go about their daily lives with their hair uncovered. They have been joined by numerous actors, musicians and athletes, who have appeared without headscarves at public appearances and on their social media accounts. Beauty and fashion influencers with large followings on Instagram and other social media have also abandoned the hijab.

This Iranian stylist specialised in hijabi fashion before the 2022-23 protests. She now poses with her hair uncovered. © Observers

Actress Taraneh Alidousti, who has appeared without a hijab in support of the protests, was arrested in December 2022, held for nearly three weeks, and ordered to pay a fine. She has reportedly been banned from Iran’s government film watchdog has threatened to ban films starring actresses who have removed their hijab in public.

“They can declare a ‘financial jihad’ against us, but it won’t work”

“Tarlan”, a well-known Iranian actress, spoke to the FRANCE 24 Observers about the new bill in parliament. Like many other Iranian actresses, she has appeared on social media without hijab since the protests began. We are concealing her identity to protect her, and this article does not contain any images from her accounts.

I first heard about this bill when many of my followers on social media sent me links to the news. My first reaction was anger and a little bit of fear. But after a few seconds I honestly didn’t care. I’m not sure they will dare to actually pass the bill. While it’s being debated in parliament it will make Iranians even angrier: it’s targeting artists and personalities that people love and care about. 

“Tarlan” does not believe her fellow artists will be deterred by the prospect of financial penalties. 





 

There are women who have lost their lives on the streets: young beautiful souls like Nika [Shakarami], Kian [Pirfalak] and Hadis [Najafi]. Money is nothing compared with what they have sacrificed. And I think of fellow artists who have already paid the ultimate price for an artist because they supported this revolution: the price of being banned from practising their art as actresses, superstars like Taraneh Alidousti.

These are not just nice words I am uttering here. I really believe it: the anger and sadness is deep inside me, and many of my colleagues I have spoken to feel the same. On the other hand, I am not naive. I am sure that this will scare many of my colleagues, especially the younger ones who are starting out, who are not yet so well-known, who need to be seen and present.

I’m afraid the regime will use this bill as a sword to hold over the heads of artists to force them to do what the state wants them to do. It might, for example, put pressure on them to appear in state-funded propaganda films and series, and to support the regime’s ideology on their social media accounts. The regime has in the past arrested actors for arbitrary reasons such as drugs or an extramarital affair and forced them to do what they ask.

 





But we are not stupid. Some of our friends and I are thinking of solutions if this bill really becomes a law. We’re talking to our lawyers. There are already solutions being proposed to us, like transferring our assets overseas or to someone we trust in Iran. If we have no more assets, they’d have to confiscate ten percent of nothing!  They can declare a ‘financial jihad’ against us, but it won’t work. Iranians, especially women, have chosen their path, and nothing can be done to stop us.

Since Mahsa Amini’s death on September 16, 2022, more than 500 people have been killed by the security forces.

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