Why Dozens Of People Are Being Arrested For Instagram Photos
Counting the amounts of Instagram 'likes' and comments you receive on a photo might be common practice for most digital natives. Yet, for others, the decision of whether to upload a photo may result in their arrest.
The Independent reports Iran has arrested dozens of people, including Instagram models and beauty salon owners, for posting images online in the latest efforts to tackle ‘immoral’ behaviour.
The IRNA news agency reports that more than 40 people - including at least eight women - have been arrested in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, south of Tehran.
Among the detainees are Instagram models, and people who work in photography, beauty salons and wedding businesses, who used social media to share content the state views as ‘indecent’.
Police reportedly said the arrests were ‘damaging public virtue through the organised spreading of anti-cultural’ activities.
Earlier this month, Iranian police arrested Maedeh Hojabri, an 18-year-old Instagram star with over 88,000 followers for her dance videos.
In hundreds of her posts, Hojabri can be seen dancing to Iranian and western pop music in clothes that violate the countries strict Islamic dress code. In other posts, she wears an Islamic headscarf.
Local media reported the teenager has been released on bail, and is not believed to be among detainees arrested this week. State television reportedly broadcasted a ‘confession’ by the Instagram user, in which she insisted she was not trying to break moral norms but only secure more followers.
In defence of Hojabri’s actions, women have posted photos of themselves dancing to show solidarity with the teenager, along with hashtags that translate to ‘#dancing_isn’t_a_crime’, ‘#dance_to_freedom’ and 'FreeMaedeh'.
Do you think this is a crime? In #Iran, it is. Teenager #MaedehHojabri was arrested for posting videos of herself dancing on Instagram. We’re with the people of Iran, saying that #DancingIsNotACrime, #برقص_تا_برقصیم. Dance with us?🕺🏽💃🏽 pic.twitter.com/jdnAlD7z8s
- AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) July 9, 2018
People in Iran & across the world are posting videos of themselves dancing to stand in solidarity w/ 17 yr old Maedeh Hojabri who was arrested by Iran’s security forces for sharing videos of herself dancing at home | #DancingIsNotACrime #برقص_تا_برقصيم pic.twitter.com/HsMNr2K0fg
- Samira Ghaderi (@Samira_Ghaderi) July 9, 2018
According to reports, the Iranian police are planning to shut down similar Instagram accounts to Hojabri’s and have already banned access to many social media sites inside the country, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Women in Iran can currently face penalties ranging from a $25 (£19) fine to prison time for even showing their hair as a result of strict rules in behaviour and dress code implemented in the country since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
In January, dozens of women were arrested for joining peaceful protests against compulsory veiling during which several posted videos of themselves removing their headscarves in public.
Iranian women put their scarves on sticks in the middle of busy streets, as a peaceful protest to mandatory Hijab laws. We have been fighting this unfair law for three decades, slowly but consistently. We fought and we pushed back. And this is where we are today. pic.twitter.com/cwNOiykTUp
- Negar (@NegarMortazavi) January 29, 2018
In February, Amnesty International reported that Iranian police had warned women who joined the protests faced up to a decade in jail on charges of ‘inciting corruption and prostitution’. The rights group said the police were holding some of the women in solitary confinement.
One detainee, Shaparak Shajarizadeh, told the organisation that she was subjected to torture and allegedly injected with an unidentified substance several times against her will.
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