On September 13, 2022 Mahsa Amini was arrested by Iran’s morality police for apparently violating the country’s dress code. The dress code states that women must wear headscarves and loose fitting pants in public settings, which Amini supposedly violated for incorrectly wearing her headscarf. On September 16, Amini died in Iranian police custody, Iranian authorities blamed her death on pre-existing medical conditions. Amini’s family, however, denies that she had any prior conditions. Amini’s father instead blamed police for his daughter’s death, stating that Amini had bruises on her body. The death of Amini has acted as a tipping point for Iranian citizens. For the majority of the population, especially women and the younger generation as a whole, the authoritarian regime does not reflect their wishes and instead perpetuates an old and misogynistic ideology which oppresses its people. In the following days after Amini’s death, many protesters took to the streets. These uprisings reflect broader political dissonance within Iran.
Due to the extremely repressive authoritarian regime in Iran, demonstrations of this magnitude have been quite rare. Women are leading the protests across the nation and everyone is taking a stand. Women are walking around without hijabs, burning their headscarves, honking in support when they see unveiled women, and chanting the phrase, “we don’t want forced hijab.” It is clear that Iranian citizens want change that reflects the wishes of the majority rather than the current regime’s undesired ideology and methods of control.
Though demonstrations began peacefully, they have been met with an unnecessary and disproportionate amount of force from Iranian forces. Many have died, been injured, and arrested as a result of the extreme measures Iranian forces have used in efforts to put an end to the protests. Despite this, protests have continued and for most, the cause is worth these sacrifices. Although the extreme force being used against Iranian citizens by police is in itself horrific, Iranian authorities have exacerbated these effects and further oppressed its population by hindering communications through restricting landlines, mobile usage, internet, and social media platforms.
The significance of internet restriction spans further than expected. One of the main concerns with restricting communication between Iranians and the outside world is the failure to communicate deaths, injuries, arrests and the overall situation occurring in Iran. As of October 8, the death toll is estimated to be around 200, however, it is difficult to ascertain whether this number is accurate without open communication with Iranian citizens. This also makes it difficult for the international community to intervene or provide support to Iranians.
The restrictions on communication violates Iranian people’s freedom of expression. The freedom of expression as outlined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, states that, “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” Therefore, within the human right to the freedom of expression, access to the internet to express one’s opinion is inherently linked. Many Iranian women have used social media to gather support within Iran and worldwide for the cause by posting emotional videos cutting their hair or burning hijabs and using the hashtag #Mahsa_Amini. In their efforts to diminish the revolt, Iranian authorities have restricted access to many social media platforms where these videos and hashtags were circulating. Thus, Iranian forces have not only violated Iranian people’s freedom of expression, but resultantly, violated the right to access reliable internet as it pertains to the freedom of expression.
The use of internet restriction as a method to deter protests also violates the freedom of assembly. The protests have continued despite restrictions on communication but have become much more challenging. When there is a lack of communication between people of a particular movement or cause, it is difficult to orchestrate meaningful protests large enough to create change. The difficulty stems from a lack of information being spread regarding the logistics of the protests. Therefore, by hindering the use of the internet and social media it also hinders the size and power of protests which violates the freedom of peaceful assembly.
Overlooked, are the unintentional effects of restricting the internet on day-to-day lives of Iranians. Most prominent among the unintended consequences is the internet outages effects on carrying out economic activities. For instance, the E-commerce retail sector has been disrupted since the shutting down of the internet. Many social media platforms play a key role in E-commerce, Instagram for example has been completely blocked in Iran among the protests, which for many companies both small and large is essential in advertising and offering goods and services. Many businesses operate solely online and therefore when the internet becomes blocked these businesses suffer and each day the disruption continues, businesses are losing more and more profits which have implications on the Iranian economy as a whole. In an unofficial poll of 104 Iranian retailers, 53 percent said they are losing $1,500 a day in sales, 39 percent claim to be losing $3,000-$5,000 a day and the top 8 percent are losing even more. Moreover, when internet outages occur Iranians are unaware of when access to the internet will be restored. Therefore, the implications of an internet outage can be as large as job loss and strains on fulfilling financial obligations.
Despite the numerous violent crackdowns enforced by Iranian police forces and authorities, the protests in response to Mahsa Amini’s death demanding the deconstruction of political Islam in Iran have not only persisted but have spread across the globe. However, with internet outages and censorship, the future of these demonstrations is uncertain. Not only has the internet shutdown violated Iranian human rights and freedoms in its efforts of preventing the escalation of protests, but it has also had various other consequences which have put even more strains on Iranian people across the nation. These strains, both financial and social, will only worsen as time goes on, the question that remains is how far are Iranian protesters willing to go to demand a regime change? Whether change will occur ultimately depends on the resilience of the protesters.
Edited by Riyana Karim-Hajiani
Hi I’m Jenna Hicks. I am a third year student studying International Development with a minor in Political Science at McGill University. I have a strong interest in human rights issues as well as feminst related topics and I look forward to being able to share these interests with the Catalyst audience.