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full screen Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a background image on a mobile phone. Archive image. Photo: Vahid Salemi/AP/TT
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been banned from Facebook and Instagram, as Meta believes he has repeatedly broken the rules. Now Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian condemns the American technology giant’s decision and calls it a “violation of freedom of expression”.
Instagram and Facebook are popular among Iranians, but the regime blocks access as a way to avoid the platforms being used to plan protests. But that does not prevent the country’s representatives from using their accounts. It is also possible to access the social media via private networks or VPN.
Khamenei had around five million followers on Instagram. Meta’s decision to suspend him was made public on February 8 after the ayatollah increasingly expressed his support for Hamas and condemned Israel’s actions in connection with the war in Gaza.