46 Arrested in Hormozgan for Instagram 'Modeling'

The police chief of Hormozgan province announced the identification of a "large modeling gang" and the arrest of 46 individuals in this regard in the province. The news agency IRIB reported this on Tuesday (July 16) citing Azizollah Maleki, who stated that this "organized and extensive gang" was discovered following the "monitoring and control of cyberspace" by the public security police of Hormozgan province. In recent years, Iranian judicial and police officials have called for stricter limitations on social media regarding activities related to modeling, tattooing, and tanning salons, citing the arrest of dozens of individuals. According to Maleki, images and clips of these individuals were published by "themselves" on Instagram, which he claimed caused "public decency to be offended" and led to "anti-cultural propagation." The police chief of Hormozgan stated that the aim of publishing these images on social networks was "economic exploitation" and added that "there is a possibility of luring girls and women into committing immoral acts under the guise of the modeling profession." To combat the activities of these individuals in Hormozgan province, Maleki reported the identification of "offending professions" including "photographers, women's salons, boutiques, and women suitable for modeling." He stated that "46 individuals from 38 business units and eight female models" were arrested and referred to judicial authorities. Maleki did not provide details about the identities of the detainees or their place of detention. This police official also mentioned that actions would be taken against "offending professions" based on the guild law without elaborating on the details. The Iran Human Rights Campaign also reported that the aim of the Iranian police in these types of arrests is "in addition to economic roots, controlling lifestyle and combating what is termed social anomalies." According to this report, "models and internet activists, due to threats from security agencies, have less communication with the media during and after their arrest unless in accidental cases, after the issuance or execution of a sentence or when they leave Iran." Due to the restrictions imposed in the past year on the modeling field, many individuals who were active in this area have either stopped their activities or have been forced to leave Iran. Iranian judicial officials state that the reasons for these arrests and actions against the phenomenon of "modeling" include "promoting a Western lifestyle," "encouraging promiscuity," "attempts to undermine religious principles and values," and combating "soft warfare" and "enemy infiltration." The crackdown on changes in the lifestyle of Iranian society and the approach towards what the regime calls "Western living" is one of the main reasons for these suppressions, especially in areas where women are involved. According to the Iran Human Rights Campaign, previously most methods and struggles regarding lifestyle were limited to streets and public environments, and with the increase in costs and government crackdowns, after the expansion of social networks, a large part of the display of different lifestyles has moved to cyberspace and especially social networks. In this context, in May of this year, Kamal Hadianfar, head of the Cyber Police, announced that this force had "reviewed" 51,000 pages deemed "obscene and vulgar" on Instagram and is trying to identify their operators. Last year, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, announced that the police had been instructed to focus on the status of women's salons in the capital. After the blocking of the popular Telegram network in Iran, Iranian authorities have somewhat focused on Instagram, and it seems that by attempting to show the spread of "vulgarity" on this network, they are also paving the way for its blockage.