Recently, Iranian Americans for Liberty (IAL) discovered that political activists both inside and outside of Iran have had their Twitter accounts suspended or deleted. These accounts were utilized by users to express their opposition to the Islamic Republic regime and the recent wave of violent suppression of dissent. Big Tech has a history of silencing one side of the spectrum in political and cultural issues globally, as documented in IAL’s December 24th and 30th 2021 public statements.

“This wave of censorship is neither organic nor haphazard. There is a target which points directly at Iranian advocates of constitutional rights and human rights disproportionately. Social media has played a crucial role in allowing those with no voice in certain parts of the world the ability to express their free speech and expose corrupt regimes.

Twitter needs to immediately reinstate these accounts, and has the social responsibility to promote free speech, especially to those who do not have that right within their own homeland. Despite IAL’s repeated
protests, Big Tech allows the Islamic Republic regime officials including its leader Ali Khamenei on their platforms. Twitter has the obligation to allow those persecuted by that same regime the right to express
themselves.” — IAL President Daniel Jafari

The seeds of this mass purge of the voices of Iranian activists were laid down years ago by far left activists like Masih Alinejad when she claimed Iranian dissidents were Twitter bots controlled by the regime. This is all done under the guise of fighting misinformation, which IAL finds disappointing given that Elon Musk proclaimed vision upon acquiring Twitter was to turn it into an ideal platform for freedom of speech. We encourage Twitter to launch a thorough investigation into the widespread purge of accounts belonging to Iranians who oppose the Islamic Republic regime. Potential infiltration of Twitter and other social media companies by apologists and pseudo-lobbyists of the Islamic Republic and other tyrannical regimes poses a serious threat to the national security of the United States.

The findings and research conducted can be found here. The findings will show the breakdown of users being suspended, as well as their political affiliations and social media following. IAL is committed to ensuring political activists on social media are protected, and free speech is a true standard business practice within Big Tech.