Meta Removes Iran Supreme Leader Khamenei’s Instagram, Facebook Accounts
On Thursday Meta removed the Instagram and Facebook accounts of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The action is said to be largely the result of pressure from Israeli lobby groups in the wake of the Oct.7 terror attacks on southern Israel. Iranian leaders frequently use the term “Zionist entity” in English messaging and will not say “Israel” – which has been flagged as a violation of Meta’s hate speech policies.
“We have removed these accounts for repeatedly violating our Dangerous Organizations & Individuals policy.”
Meta cited its policy of not allowing “organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence” on its.
Ayatollah Khamenei has used his official media accounts to post in support of the Palestinian plight, and Tehran has long stood accused of backing Hamas, which is listed by the US and many European countries as a terrorist organization.
Per MEE’s figurs, “Khamenei’s Persian-language account had more than 5.1 million followers, while his English-language account had more than 204,000.”
Iranian opposition groups have also long lobbied to get Iranian leaders banned from Western social media platforms, particularly in wake of the recent ‘anti-hijab’ protests led by women in Iranian cities, which resulted in a harsh security services crackdown.
However, critics of these censorship policies have argued that there are fewer and fewer avenues left whereby an international audience can gain insight into what Tehran is thinking. Often accounts like the Ayatollah’s Instagram or X are used to communicate official statements in multiple languages to the West.
Additionally, in many cases state media are the first to report major breaking events such as bombings or assassinations within the country, or instances of alleged Israeli sabotage on Iranian nuclear facilities. Thus the opposing argument would be that such vital information is needed, and that these accounts should be kept active.
