Iran Accuses Twitter of Censorship, Legitimate Account Closures

Iran’s hardline Islamist government has attacked social media platform Twitter and accused it of randomly closing down what it calls “legitimate accounts.”

In August, Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc collectively ditched hundreds of accounts tied to an alleged Iran propaganda operation. Now Iran is hitting back via Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif:

“Hello @Jack. Twitter has shuttered accounts of real Iranians, (including) TV presenters & students, for supposedly being part of an ‘influence op’,” Zarif said in a tweet, addressing Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

“How about looking at actual bots in (the Albanian capital of) Tirana used to prop up ‘regime change’ propaganda spewed out of (Washington) DC? #YouAreBots,” Zarif said.

Hello @Jack. Twitter has shuttered accounts of real Iranians, incl TV presenters & students, for supposedly being part of an ‘influence op’. How about looking at actual bots in Tirana used to prop up ‘regime change’ propaganda spewed out of DC? #YouAreBots https://t.co/dTs0diYrM4

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) September 16, 2018

Zarif’s tweet comes shortly after a program exploring the extent of an operation to spread government information inside Iran by the MKO group went to air.

Members of the MKO are highly active, using accounts to challenge the Tehran government.

Reuters reports Iranian media have previously accused Israel, Saudi Arabia, and exiled opposition groups, including the Mujahideen Khalq which has some members based in Albania, of driving social media campaigns calling for the end of the Islamic Iran government.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the United States and Israel this month of waging a media war to discourage Iranians, as the country deals with the reimposition of U.S. sanctions.

Ironically, Iran’s own government has previously been attacked for the same censorhip and shuttering of contrary opinions it is accusing Twitter of.

The Iranian Association for Online Commerce stated in January that Internet controls installed by the authoritarian regime to suppress a popular uprising damaged “half a million online businesses, including several high-tech companies.”

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