The Social Deputy of Iran’s Cyber Police (FATA) said yesterday that three people who had published false news with the goal of “creating ambiguity” on election day were detained.
According to the state-run ISNA News Agency, Ramin Pashaie, the Social Deputy said they had received complaints from some candidates of the mid-term Parliament and City Councils regarding false information and personal photos that was posted on the internet. He said the Cyber Police was tasked with monitoring and identifying the “criminals”.
“This was an organized effort to damage the reputation of some candidates, and creating ambiguity on election day,” Pashaie added. The Social Deputy said three “criminals” were identified and arrested. They were charged with “disturbing the public minds” and “damaging the reputation of candidates”.
A month before the elections, Iran’s Cyber Police and security forces threatened many journalists and activists about their stance on the elections.
On May 21, an Iranian journalist tweeted that two people were summoned on May 15 for posting tweets criticizing Iran’s Chief Justice and now president Ebrahim Raisi.
On May 23, a Kurd journalist was detained in the western province of Ilam for writing a piece that was critical of Ebrahim Raisi.
On June 1, the Chief Justice of Kurdistan said in a meeting that anyone who crossed the regimes “red line” in cyberspace regarding the upcoming elections would be severely dealt with.
This is while other reports indicate the Head of the Culture and Media Court, a court affiliated with the Judiciary that deals with offenses in the media, has called a number of journalists and reporters asking them not to criticize Raisi, the Supreme Leader’s favorite presidential candidate.
There were also reports that the intelligence agents in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have contacted several social media activists, threatening them not to post content that criticizes Raisi, otherwise they would be in “trouble”.
Source » irannewswire