Twitter is central to the protests in Iran

Although Twitter is not the most used social network in Iran – WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram are all the most popular – as in many other countries, the platform is also used here to share the latest news and updates in real time. Twitter prevents Iran from becoming an information black hole. “It is a key space for free expression, networking with friends and family, mobilizing at demonstrations and also holding governments accountable for their actions“, says Grothe. “We’re seeing how Twitter is used by people who are in the field“, says Alimardani instead.

The videos and images shared by the protesters were used to shed light on the abuses committed by the Iranian police and authorities. A’investigation of the BBC used social media data to help identify youths and children killed during protests in the country. There is no official register of people who died during the demonstrations and Hrana estimates that only 3400 people have been identified among those detained by officials, compared to over 18 thousand arrests.

Several high-profile accounts both inside and outside Iran, belonging to people on the ground, members of the Iranian diaspora and researchers, are sharing hundreds of videos reporting what is happening in the country. The collective of activists 1500tasvirfor example, has seen his Twitter profile followers grow in Farsi from 55,000 in September to around 382 thousand current (in the last two months, the group’s Instagram account has also grown significantly, going from 450,000 followers to 1.7 million).

“It is not possible to find normal or accurate news on Iranian TV, because there is no independent platform within the country“, says Saeed Bagheri, a professor of international law at the University of Reading. According to Bagheri, people using Twitter in Iran have been “really effective in sharing first-hand news of human rights violations and brutality of Islamic republics against peaceful protests“. On November 24, the United Nations(UN) has opened an investigation on the “deadly violence against protesters“, citing images of those who have been abused. An Iranian representative, however, has declared that the country’s authorities have adopted the “necessary measures“.