As protests in Iran stretched into their seventh day on Wednesday, the Iranian authorities continue to restrict access to social media tools that have become key sources of information to anti-government demonstrators. Unsurprisingly, restricting access to such technology has become as important to government crackdowns as the physical presence of the police.
The demonstrations, which have erupted against a backdrop of rising food and gasoline prices, began Thursday in the northeastern city of Mashhad before spreading to other cities. Those included Tehran, Kermanshah, Arak, Qazvin, Khorramabad, Karaj and Sabzevar, according to state-run media outlet IRNA, which cited First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri.
Dr. Thamar Eilam Gindin is the author of several books on ancient Persia and modern Iran. She researches Iranian social media and telegram channels. Currently she is a core faculty member at the Middle East programme in Shalem College of Liberal Arts in Jerusalem and a research fellow at the Ezri Center for Iran and Persian Gulf research in Haifa University. She aspires to be Israel’s first cultural attachée in a free Iran.
