{"id":201038,"date":"2020-01-18T15:20:58","date_gmt":"2020-01-18T15:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=201038"},"modified":"2020-01-22T07:13:09","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T07:13:09","slug":"us-clearing-anti-war-voices-off-social-media-in-vast-censorship-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=201038","title":{"rendered":"US Clearing Anti-War Voices Off Social Media in Vast Censorship Operation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Darius Shahtahmasebi \u2013 Renegade Tribune Jan 17, 2020<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Instagram and its parent company Facebook are removing posts that appear to be in support of the late Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in order to comply with U.S. sanctions, a company spokesperson\u00a0recently told<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>CNN<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

We operate under U.S. sanctions laws, including those related to the U.S. government\u2019s designation of the IRGC and its leadership,<\/em>\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Iranian government has responded by calling for legal action against Instagram, going so far as to create a portal for the users to submit posts that have been removed by the social media giant. Iran\u2019s government spokesperson, Ali Rabiei called the move \u201cundemocratic<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram is not blocked in Iran. Despite this, Twitter\u2019s position on the matter is that as long as users abide by its rules the social media platform will not seek to remove posts. That being said, independent news outlet the\u00a0Grayzone<\/em>\u00a0reported<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0that Twitter suspended dozens of accounts run by people in Venezuela, Syria, and Iran\u2014including Iran\u2019s supreme leader\u2014during the first two weeks of January.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instagram removed Soleimani\u2019s own account last April shortly after the U.S. government designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a foreign terrorist organization. Less publicized is the\u00a0recent decision<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0by Iran\u2019s parliament to designate all U.S. forces as \u201cterrorists\u201d following the assassination of Soleimani.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pressure on social media companies to give effect to U.S. sanctions has also led to the\u00a0removal of posts<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0by Instagram which were posted by outspoken critics of the IRGC, including human rights advocate Emadeddin Baghi. Unsurprisingly, the International Federation of Journalists released a statement declaring Instagram\u2019s actions as going \u201cagainst global standard principles including freedom of speech and media<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Instagram and Facebook are not the only companies cracking down on speech that could be construed as supporting Soleimani. According to the Grayzone\u2019s Ben Norton, a French reader attempted to donate $10 to the independent media outlet, writing \u201cI am making this donation to The Grayzone for the sake of free speech and balanced reporting, particularly in regard to recent events in Iraq and Iran.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

PayPal then froze the payment as it\u00a0did with many others<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

This is Orwellian. PayPal keeps blocking small donations from our readers to @TheGrayzoneNews<\/a>. Why? They mention the word in "Iran," praising our coverage of US warmongering against Iran<\/p>\n

One of the donations frozen by @PayPal<\/a> even mentioned "free speech"!https:\/\/t.co\/79uxrXLQqf<\/a><\/p>\n

— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) January 13, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n