Twitter blocks accounts of Iranian state media outlets

Abid Latif

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posted on 5 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Twitter pointed out the coordinated and targeted harassment of individuals associated with the Baha’i religion. (File/AFP) According to Twitter, the accounts harassed individuals associated with the Baha’i religion.

For a long time, the Baha’i faith has been a religious minority in Iran that has suffered persecution.

Following harassment of individuals associated with the Baha’i faith, Twitter suspended the accounts of various Iranian state media outlets, as announced on Saturday. Some media outlets under scrutiny due to Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker speculated that the suspensions were linked to their coverage of the event amid escalating regional tensions.

According to Twitter, people associated with the Baha’i faith, a religious minority that has faced persecution in Iran, were subjected to coordinated and targeted harassment.

The investigation is ongoing, and the suspended accounts were not named.

Your account has been suspended. Each Iranian media outlet displayed English-language messages stating that Twitter suspends accounts that violate Twitter Rules.

Mehr news agency, known for its moderate conservative views in Iran, stated that its Farsi-language account was blocked on Friday after reporting on the seizure of the Stena Impero tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it seized the Swedish-owned tanker for breaking “international maritime rules” in the strait, a chokepoint for around a third of the world’s sea-bor’s sea-borne oil.

On Saturday, Mehr’s Twitter page in Farsi was not accessible, along with the official IRNA news agency and the Ag’ Club’s pages.

The Young Journalists’ Club stated that their account and other users’ accounts were suspended after the seizure of a British tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

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Its Mehr Diplomacy account, which provides analysis and interviews on foreign policy, was also offline, Mehr remarked.

Ali Akbar Raefipoor, a hard-line public speaker, had another account taken down.

The owners of suspended accounts were not given any reason by Twitter for the move.

Micro-blogging is forbidden in Iran, but numerous officials maintain accounts, and individuals use VPNs to bypass censorship and access them.