Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, February 26, 2015

A little protest goes a long way (in the media)

Echoing the 2009 protests in Iran, the conservative judiciary (all clerics) and the Twitterverse (probably not clerics) take sides again.

Iranians protest Khatami media blackout online

Khatami

Some Iranians on social media have launched the hashtag “We will be Khatami’s media” in Persian after Tehran banned media from mentioning name of former President Mohammed Khatami, who was known as a reformer…

On Monday, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, the spokesman for Iran’s judiciary said Tehran’s justice department had issued a ruling that prohibits any mentions of Khatami in the Iranian media.

“There is an order that bans the media from publishing photos or reports about this person,” Mohseni-Eje’i said, referring to Khatami without naming him, according to the semi-official Isna news agency.

Iran’s judicial system is dominated by conservatives and works separately from President Hassan Rowhani’s government, leaving the leader incapable of influencing its decisions…

A Facebook page, which garnered 26,810 likes… was also created.

The page was filled with Khatami’s pictures and the hashtag “we will be Khatamai’s media.”

Khatami, who became president starting 1997 till 2005, was regarded as Iran’s first reformist president. His campaign was on the rule of law, democracy and the inclusion of all Iranians in the political decision-making process…