IRIB Defends Broadcast of Confessions from Instagram Dancers

The Director General of Public Relations at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) defended the airing of a program called "Bi-Rahe" on Channel One, which featured confessions from young female dancers on Instagram, in response to reactions and criticisms on Tuesday, July 9. According to ISNA news agency, Mohammad Hossein Ranjbaran described the airing of the documentary "Bi-Rahe" as a "fundamental duty of the national media and a demand from the public, especially families" who seek more information about the "dangers of cyberspace." He mentioned that some families contact them and explicitly state that they are not religious but believe in family values and ask them to create programs to curb the rampant nature of cyberspace and raise awareness among families. Ranjbaran stated that the "Bi-Rahe" program was produced by the social deputy of the police and based on discussions with police officials, "judicial orders had been issued for these individuals, and even the judiciary requested that the matter be publicized." Concurrently, Touraj Kazemi, head of Tehran's Cyber Police, noted that "Instagram stars" have been identified and that the judiciary and moral security police are taking strict action against them. On Saturday, a program aired on Channel One featuring confessions from several women and young girls expressing regret for their activities on Instagram. The program did not mention the names of those detained or provide information about their arrest or current status. However, social media users have identified them as Maedeh Hejabi, Elnaz Ghasemi, Shadab, and Kami, who reportedly have been released on bail, with their pages blocked since May. Maedeh Hejabi, a 17-year-old girl among the detainees, had over 600,000 followers on her Instagram account where she shared videos of her dances. The airing of these confessions has faced backlash from political activists, some officials, civil activists, and social media users who criticized this act. In this context, a campaign named "Dance Until We Dance" has emerged, where users share videos of themselves dancing. Hosam al-Din Ashna, an advisor to the Iranian President and his representative in the IRIB Supervisory Council, was among those who objected to the airing of these confessions, stating on Twitter that broadcasting images of individuals "in abnormal conditions, including in hospitals, police stations, or detention centers, requires coordination between the judiciary, IRIB, and the consent of the individual being filmed." Ashna also emphasized that the IRIB Supervisory Council can address complaints from individuals regarding the broadcasting of their images on television. Even Shahab Esfandiari, who heads the IRIB Faculty, criticized the airing of this program, expressing his "regret and sadness" upon seeing the "clip" of these confessions, stating: "It was neither ethical nor professional. The national media has paid a heavy price for airing such interviews in the past." However, he later moderated his criticism, emphasizing that the confessions aired were not produced by IRIB but were provided by the police, which has a weekly program on Channel One called Bi-Rahe. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Shahryari, a well-known television presenter who has been sidelined from the organization for years, harshly criticized the airing of the Bi-Rahe program. The Iranian Children's Rights Support Association also issued a statement referring to the airing of the confessions of the 17-year-old girl as a "clear and prominent symbol of violence against children." Zahra Rahnavard, closely associated with the family of Mir Hossein Mousavi, a leader of the Green Movement, called the program "a terrifying interview, a clawing and scratching at the spirit of a teenage girl" and described it as "inhumane and anti-youth behavior." Rahnavard has been under house arrest for over seven years alongside her husband, Mir Hossein Mousavi, following the controversial 2009 elections. Mahmoud Sadeghi, a Tehran representative in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, also criticized the airing of the confessions of detainees, advising the IRIB head to "order an interview with the victims of sexual abuse by the voice and tone instructor," who, according to him, "desperate for justice in the Iranian judicial system, want to resort to foreign courts." Sadeghi referred to the case of Saeed Tusi, a prominent Quran reciter involved in allegations of sexual abuse against children and adolescents he taught, who is reportedly acquitted in this case. Mostafa Tajzadeh, a reformist political activist and deputy interior minister in Mohammad Khatami's government, criticized the management structure of the IRIB on Twitter, stating: "If the IRIB were accountable to anyone other than the leader, it could never continue this illegal and inhumane method." The Iran Human Rights Campaign also issued a statement on Tuesday, evaluating the "coercion of a teenager to confess on state television for the 'crime' of sharing her dance videos on Instagram" as a clear violation of freedom of expression and a reflection of the ruthlessness of Iranian authorities in imposing cultural coercion on the Iranian people. Some social media users criticized the IRIB's performance by questioning why it has not aired confessions from economic offenders, embezzlers, and import mafia members. Among them, Mohammad Taghi Fazel Meybodi, a professor at Mofid University in Qom and a member of the Society of Researchers and Teachers of Qom Seminary, tweeted: "After forty years of talking about Islam, we have reached a point where a young girl must confess her sins on public media." He then asked, "Which embezzler has come on air to confess to embezzlement and looting of public funds? Is dancing a great sin or looting national interests?" He concluded his tweet with, "Religion in the hands of the ignorant is like this." Mohammad Hossein Ranjbaran, the IRIB Public Relations Director, responded to these criticisms by stating: "The national media has always been at the forefront in combating economic corruption." He also emphasized that "every issue has its own place and importance and should not be forgotten due to weak handling of corruption in one area while ignoring the corruption in other areas that have eaten away at the foundations of families." Abdullah Ramazanzadeh, a reformist political activist and spokesperson for Khatami's government, wrote on Twitter addressing Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian President, that "the IRIB, with the story of dancing, tried to sideline the story of currency. You should obligate your ministers to act transparently on the currency issue and assign your Ministry of Intelligence to provide reports on violations so that the people can demand the judiciary to punish the offenders." As the wave of reactions and criticisms against the IRIB's airing of detainees' confessions continues, some opponents of the Islamic Republic abroad have written and signed a letter to Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, asking the U.S. government to sanction the IRIB. The detention of these girls and young women has also received widespread coverage in international media, including BBC, The Guardian, Independent, Washington Post, Daily Mail, and Al Jazeera. Nevertheless, in part of his remarks, Mohammad Hossein Ranjbaran, the IRIB Public Relations Director, based on what he described as "raising awareness about the dangers of cyberspace and audience requests" and the "fundamental duty of the media," promised that in the future, "numerous programs and documentaries in this area will be aired." The IRIB has faced severe criticism in recent years for airing confessions of political and civil activists and producing programs aimed at discrediting dissidents and critics of the Islamic Republic in various fields.