Ibrahim Golfam, head of regimes propaganda in the Army during a press conference.
Elements within the Iranian regime have publicly expressed fear at the Iranian opposition’s swelling popularity across social media. The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK), the largest and best-supported Iranian opposition group, have been attracting swathes of the Iranian youth to its social media campaigns.
Feeling the Pressure
So much so, that the Cultural Deputy of Iranian regime’s Armed Forces Department Ibrahim Golfam aired his concerns over the group’s rising online influence. “The [PMOI/MEK], stationed in the capital of a European country, are day and night busy creating an atmosphere against the Islamic Republic in Twitter, Instagram, and Telegram,” he complained.
Speaking to journalists in Yasuj, Southern Iran, Golfam described the ongoing war for the hearts and minds of the Iranian public. He said a “battle formation” was “needed in the fields of economics, culture and soft war.”
Golfam’s comments were echoed by the regime’s Friday prayer Imam in Shiraz. Lotfollah Dezhkam, during a sermon, complained about the MEK’s social media presence. “There are some behaviors seen on the internet that need our attention. It is not right for anyone to say anything they wish,” he said. He expressed his opinion that the regime should more closely monitor the Iranian opposition’s online presence and censor Iranians’ access to their posts.
“This is a direction that needs to be taken by FATA (Iran’s internet police) and finally the judiciary. Both of these entities need to be involved and there need to be some control mechanisms from our part,” he said.
Dezhkam also vented about the closure of the social media accounts belonging to senior members of the Iranian regime’s leadership. “They make a fuss and brouhaha about providing an open atmosphere! Free! Anyone is able to say anything they wish! You do know that they erase even one sentence that is expressed by us,” he complained, adding, “why do they not allow people to hear what they have to say? Those who close these accounts are cowards!”
Twitter and other social media accounts have taken a stronger stance against the Iranian regime in recent months. The MEK revealed last year that the Iranian regime uses an extensive social media campaign to vilify and demonize the Iranian opposition.
In 2018, Twitter removed more than 750 accounts affiliated to the Iranian regime. Many accounts posed as foreign journalists and shared anti-MEK propaganda in an attempt to turn public opinion against the opposition group. Following this incident, Twitter and other social media platforms have scrutinized regime-affiliated accounts.
The Iranian regime is once again expressing fear over the popularity of MEK channels in Telegram and Instagram as a sign of their influence among Iranians and particularly the youth.
The Iranian regime and its officials have abandoned all pretense that the MEK has no power within Iran and have finally been forced to publicly acknowledge the MEK’s influence in the popular uprising currently taking place in Iran.
Regime officials have made a number of statements in recent months about the MEK’s role in the ongoing protests, and state-run media openly speaks of the MEK and its tactics for organizing protests, strikes, and demonstrations.
Regime Communications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi made recent remarks about the regime’s inability to prevent the MEK from using social media to organize activities and share news about the Iranian Resistance movement. A regime expert followed Jahromi’s statements by acknowledging that the MEK has been more active over the past year. The expert also confirmed the link between the MEK network within Iran and the organization working on behalf of the Iranian people abroad.
#Iran opposition PMOI/MEK is the source of major concerns for the mullahs' regime through their social media campaigns.#MEKhttps://t.co/45geBvRqvC
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 11, 2018
The state-run Tehran Press news agency reported on the MEK, referring to the organization as “the enemy.” Tehran Press described the failure of the regime to prevent the MEK from using the Internet to operate, saying that the MEK has “inflicted severe blows” to the Iranian regime through this medium.
The news agency cited a social media researcher, who warned that the popular messaging app Telegram and the social media app Instagram should be considered critical threats to Iran.
Telegram, which is used by more than 40 million people in Iran, is used by the MEK and the Iranian opposition to spread news and organize protests quickly. The regime is so threatened by the effectiveness of Telegram that it was banned earlier this year. Supporters of the Resistance continue to use the app, despite the ban.
The social media researcher cited by Tehran News agency went on to say:
“It should be noted that on the Internet, especially Telegram, the enemy and especially the [MEK], have gained complete control… The terminology of regime change is gaining complete control in social media networks today. If not 100%, a very significant percentage of the context is influenced by regime change terminology used specifically by the PMOI/MEK… These days we see many children of highly devoted individuals linked to the state are completely engulfed in social media platforms completely influenced by the [MEK].”
Even regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has acknowledged the importance of social media in shaping Iran’s youth, saying that the medium has become a “killing ground” for the country’s younger generation. Khamenei’s words reveal his deep fear of the possibility of the youth of Iran learning the truth about the regime.
The regime has access to a massive propaganda operation, but it has failed to succeed against a grassroots effort by a resistance group. The Iranian people, armed with knowledge, are not fooled by propaganda. As they have gained access to information about the democratic alternative to the regime offered by the MEK, they have become unwilling to stand for the mullahs’ corruption. The people of Iran see a future without the mullahs.
