Happy not allowed in Iran
The video is a wonderful celebration. Those in power in Iran don't think so.Young Iranians Arrested for Being Too ‘Happy in Tehran’
Just days after Iran’s president denounced Internet censorship as “cowardly,” six young Iranians were arrested and forced to repent on state television Tuesday for the grievous offense of proclaiming themselves to be “Happy in Tehran,” in a homemade music video they posted on YouTube last month.
Formerly Happy Iranians
By uploading their video, recorded on an iPhone and promoted on Facebook and Instagram, the group was taking part in a global online phenomenon, which has resulted, so far, in hundreds of cover versions of the Pharrell Williams song “Happy” recorded in more than 140 countries.
“Happy in Tehran” was viewed more than 165,000 times on YouTube before it attracted the attention of the police and was made private.
In a speech over the weekend, President Hassan Rouhani argued that Iran should embrace the Internet rather than view it as a threat…
The arrest of the young dancers, and their televised public humiliation, angered Iranians at home and abroad, and seemed to support President Rouhani’s case that such crackdowns served only to make the Islamic Republic of Iran look weak in the culture war being waged online…
During their appearance on state television, the six said that they had no idea the footage would be broadcast. The report also included a warning from Tehran’s police chief to the youth of Iran not to be seduced by the filmmakers behind viral videos. The officer, who referred to the exuberant video as “a vulgar clip which hurt public chastity,” also claimed that it had taken the authorities only a matter of hours to identify and arrest the participants, even though the video was uploaded a month ago…
In an interview with the news site IranWire last month, one of the dancers said that the women in the video had “covered our hair with wigs” in an attempt to conform to Islamic dress codes. She also said that the aim of the participants was in part promotional, “to tell the world that Iran is a better place than what they think it is.”…
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Iran 'releases' dancers from Pharrell Happy tribute video
A group of Iranians who were arrested for filming a video tribute to Pharrell Williams' song Happy have been released on bail, reports from Tehran suggest.
One of the fans, fashion photographer Reihane Taravati, posted a photo on Instagram, saying: "Hi, I'm back."…
Announcing her release, Taravati wrote: "Hi I'm back. Thank you @pharrell and everyone who cared about us love you all so much and missed you so much."
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) reported that the other dancers seen in the video had also been released.
"All people who made the Happy video released today, except the director of video, a source close to the families said," the organisation tweeted…
According to some reports, a total of 13 people were arrested in connection with the video, but official sources have not confirmed the exact number of detainees.
Iran's state-run TV broadcast a programme on Tuesday, which apparently showed the men and women confessing on camera…
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