November 30, 2022

The unjust battle for information in Iran’s protests

topic:	Freedom of Expression
located:	Iran
editor:	Gloria Rosary

In the recent uprising in Iran following the suspicious death of Mahsa Amini, two battles are going on simultaneously -  one on the street, another on social media. Just like the former, the fight on social media is not equal for both sides since the regime supporters can spread their narrative more easily through formal news agencies and national television. Protesters, on the other hand, have difficulty pushing their narratives, as they are silenced by their fear of being arrested and the limited access to the internet. 

This leads the truth to be muddled, as for every story - and death -  there are two competing narratives. For example, here are the two-sided narratives regarding the death of Nika Shakarami and Kian Pirfalak.

Pro-regime narrative:

The government’s version of events states that, on 21 September, Shakarami jumped from a building committing suicide, which is proven by screenshots from her chat with a rice tablet dealer. On national television, her family admitted that her death was unrelated to the uprisings.

Anti-regime narrative

During the protests, Shakarami was kidnapped by police, held by the IRGC for a week, then detained at the Evin Prison, where she may have been tortured and raped before her death. Her body was stolen and buried in a village 40 kilometres from where her family wanted to bury her. 

Pro-regime narrative:

Kian Pirfalak, a nine-year old boy, was among seven people killed on 16 November by unidentified gunmen who opened fire on a bazaar in Izeh, for which the government is not responsible.

Anti-regime narrative

Pirfalak’s mother stated at his funeral that he and the other victims were bystanders trying to drive home on the night of the attack. Following the police’s orders to turn around, plainclothes officers opened fire on them.

A repetitive pattern can be traced in pro-regime narratives: They do not initially cover the news unless they want to call it a terrorist attack or blame protestors. If they assume the incident is not terroristic, their narratives seek to prove that the death is not related to the uprising - blaming suicide, previous health problems, etc. They prepare an interview with the victims' family members - a forced confession, as protesters call it - to air on national television. 

On the other side of the battle, protesters using social media play the role of individual news agencies. The challenge is that Twitter and Telegram have been filtered in Iran for years, and WhatsApp and Instagram were blocked right after the uprising. The online sphere is also muddy as some pro-regime assets spread false news using fake usernames disguised as protesters. Protestors on social media operate like a spontaneous virtual community, working to identify reliable accounts and recognise fake ones.

The Persian broadcasts outside Iran (e.g., BBC and Iran International), which the regime has always accused of acting in favour of its enemies, are not even trusted by protesters. They believe those broadcasts support the regime’s ideology underneath their anti-regime news coverage.

The battle between the opposing and advocacy media appears at every single event during these days and before that. The undeniable truth is that hundreds of people have been killed in the past few months, including dozens of children.

To end this continuing trend, it is crucial to facilitate a fair, reliable flow of information. While one side has all the power and control, we must strengthen the other side’s voice by seeking the truth through in-hand pieces of evidence, like what CNN started to do in the case of Nika. There is also an urgent need to call for fact-checking statements from both sides to prevent misinformation from spreading.

Image by Bahman Fakouri

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