How Iranians risked their safety to share anti-regime posts after Israeli attacks

After Iran attacked Israel, Iranians risked their lives to post anti-regime messages on social media and in the streets.

While state-backed media praised Iran’s attack on Israel on Saturday, which fired more than 300 projectiles – most of which were intercepted – analysis of social media posts I Revealing the different attitudes of Iranian protesters.

“Don’t spend billions of the country’s money on rockets and smoke in the sky over Israel. Look around Tehran, there are families living in such poverty,” one post read.

Another urged Iranians to withdraw money from banks to undermine the Islamic Republic.

According to verified photos, leaflets and graffiti appeared on the streets of Tehran saying “Your war is not ours,” “Your war, not ours,” and money being spent on war while the Iranian people starve. complain. I Identify background details in the area by tracking.

In an authoritarian country like Iran, openly criticizing the government is dangerous because an individual’s social media can be routinely monitored and regulated.

Mahsa Alimardani, a digital rights researcher specializing in Iran at the Oxford Internet Institute, was interviewed I On the wave of criticism of the regime since the attacks on Israel.

She said: “The regime has taken notice and threatened Iranians who express sympathy for Israel. They will face additional repression and arrests.

“There are calls for Israel to invade and destroy them; angry that Iran is wasting money on senseless attacks on Israel [against] Those who support the regime cheer Iran for standing up to Israel. ”

Tehran said the attack was in retaliation for an attack on its consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month. It has launched drone and missile attacks against Israel, most of which have been thwarted by the country’s Iron Dome defense system and assisted by Britain, the United States, France and Jordan.

Israel said it would respond to the Iranian attack, as Britain, the United States and allies urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show restraint to prevent a full-scale regional conflict.

Social media posts show criticism not just directed at Iran, but at times directed at Israel and showing support for the Palestinians. The street art of graffiti collective Khiabun Tribune is being shared widely.

“War, Ace of Governments in Crisis,” proclaimed one poster in Farsi, which featured an image of an ace of spades with a skull in the center, symbols representing the governments of Iran and Israel.

Another shows a scale with Iran and Israel on one side and a pile of bleeding skulls on the other.

One of the graffiti group’s artworks was written in English to expand its reach online, highlighting how this bold public criticism is part of an ongoing wider backlash.

It shows a woman with her hair uncovered, a clear allusion to the feminist movement that has emerged in the country in recent years. She held a sign that read: “We are not free until we are all free. Free Palestine. Free Iran.”

Iran is still grappling with civilian disobedience after the killing of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman. In September 2022, she was detained by morality police for allegedly not wearing the required headscarf correctly and died in custody in Tehran.

Her death sparked massive nationwide protests demanding better rights for women, which later expanded to include wider issues of economic deprivation.

Social media becomes powerful tool for protesters He sent photos and videos of Iran’s street rebellion to friends and family abroad to get around Tehran’s draconian internet blockade.

Shocking images of women marching without headscarves or evidence of brutality by security forces went viral, shining a spotlight on what was happening in a country where foreign journalists are scarce.

The authorities responded with brutal crackdowns, including widely publicized executions of protesters and torture of demonstrators documented by human rights groups.

Despite the risks, social media remains an important tool for those who want to push back against the Iranian regime.

The topic #IRGCterrorists, about the country’s elite security forces, is currently trending on IranX (formerly Twitter) with approximately 212,000 posts. The label is widely used to flag anti-regime content and calls for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to be banned as a terrorist organization.

Scattered among the posts were reminders of the problems Iranians face on a daily basis, including this video that appeared to show a woman being tied to a car by the country’s morality police. I was able to locate it to Tehran’s Kuchstein Avenue, but could not confirm when the footage was filmed.

Ms Alimadani explained: “Given the massive and intense hijab repression and the current situation, tensions between the people and the regime are at an all-time high.

“Whatever happens between Israel and Iran, between economic development and increased repression, the Iranian people are suffering.”