A Police Official in Semnan Province: Two Arrested for Insulting 'Qassem Soleimani' and the Kerman Incident on Social Media

The head of the Cyber Police in Semnan Province announced the identification and arrest of two administrators of Instagram and WhatsApp pages, claiming that these individuals insulted Qassem Soleimani and the victims of the Kerman incident while calling for a boycott of the elections. Mohammad Reza Fadaiyan also claimed that the 'hurt feelings of the people' regarding the insults prompted this issue to be prioritized by the 'experts of the Cyber Police'. Ramin Pashaei, the cultural and social deputy of the Cyber Police, also reported on January 6 that a 'rapid response plan' was implemented to deal with those causing 'public anxiety' following the Kerman incident, stating that over 500 websites containing insulting content were identified and placed 'under cyber monitoring'. 'Cyber monitoring' is a term used by Iranian officials to describe censorship and restrictions on content production in cyberspace. According to published reports, at least 9 people were arrested after the Kerman incident on charges of 'insulting Qassem Soleimani' online. One of the arrests involved a pediatric specialist in Bojnurd, who was detained by the Yazd Intelligence forces after posting an image of 'cutlet' on his Instagram page. Security forces also arrested a pharmacy student at the Medical Sciences University in this city for posting a critical tweet about the recent explosions in Kerman. Following the Kerman explosions, which official reports state resulted in the deaths of over 90 people, some political activists called for the prosecution of the Islamic Republic's security officials. The Kerman explosions; the 'main designer' has 'left the country', 35 people were arrested. The deputy governor of Kerman stated that 'no negligence' occurred in the 'Martyrs' Cemetery' incident. Fact-checking | The baseless accusation of the Islamic Republic against the US and Israel regarding the Kerman explosions. Conflicting reports; a judicial official announced the discovery of 64 more bombs; the Kerman IRGC denied the existence of 'other bombs'. The Islamic Republic's judiciary announced charges against eight well-known figures for commenting on the Kerman incident. Revealing users' identities under the pretext of 'cutlet'; explanations from Mehdi Sarami Far regarding security in cyberspace. The Islamic Republic's efforts to confront social media users; the Attorney General ordered action.