Senior Officials on Social Media Lines

The use of social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram by officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not a new topic. However, discussions about this issue arise periodically due to the ban on these platforms for the general public in Iran. Recently, Minister of Communications Mahmoud Vaezi faced a question from a journalist at the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) asking how government officials use these platforms despite the ban on public access. The use of social media among government officials has significantly increased. Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a former presidential deputy during the reform period and one of the first government bloggers, acknowledged that these platforms remain filtered for the general public and access to them is not easy. In a post he published a few weeks ago on his Instagram, he wrote: "I wish the filtering of Facebook and Twitter would be lifted so that each social network could find its function. For example, this poor Instagram, which was created for sharing photos, has turned into a news and information platform just because it is not filtered. If these two social networks were unfiltered and each could serve its purpose, with only pages that are politically or morally inappropriate being filtered, what would be the problem? The first positive effect would be that we would remove this damned VPN from our phones and laptops, and the devil wouldn't tempt us to visit forbidden places just because we have a VPN installed. By God." Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, the former commander of the Islamic Republic's police, also mentioned in an interview published by Fars News Agency that the social media and virtual space played a significant role during the protests following the 2009 presidential election. He stated: "In 2009, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and later Skype played an important role. We had never heard of platforms like Facebook and Twitter in the system, and we were not aware of how these (protesters) gathered." In 2009, Instagram was not active, and it seems that Ahmadi Moghadam's failure to mention this popular platform is due to that reason. An important point to consider in establishing communication between social media users and the public is the variety of opinions expressed under each published post. Perhaps the lack of filtering for Instagram in Iran is the reason for the enthusiasm of users residing in the country for this platform. Instagram and the Iranian Government Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of Iran, has an Instagram account with over 400,000 followers. His Instagram page is updated by a team familiar with the world of social media, mostly quoting his speeches and sharing photos of official and sometimes unofficial meetings. The official page of Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, on Instagram, with over 350,000 followers, addresses current political and news issues in Iran. In one of the latest posts on this page, a photo of Hossein Fereydoun, the special assistant to the President of Iran, visiting Mohammad Reza Shajarian, a master of traditional music, in the hospital was published, while official media in the country, such as state television, had not published any news or images of the master singer in years due to his support for the Green Movement. Another active Instagram account is that of Mohammad Khatami, with over 205,000 followers, who has become more active than ever after the announcement of the ban on publishing images and names of the reformist president and shares news related to him. Additionally, another account with over 35,000 followers publishes photos related to Khatami, and those who have taken photos with him share their pictures with this page to connect with other users on this social network. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Council, also has an active Instagram account with about 170,000 followers, where he shares mostly photos of his meetings with people and officials, both past and present. It seems that the reason for the enthusiasm of Iranian politicians for Instagram is the ease of communication through photos. They can easily connect with their audiences by posting a photo and a brief explanation underneath. Among Iranian politicians, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Foreign Minister of Iran, and his deputy Abbas Araghchi used Instagram to inform about the nuclear negotiations with the 5+1 countries. For example, on the day the nuclear agreement was announced, Abbas Araghchi posted a photo of Ayatollah Khamenei's hand without any explanation, only referring to the date "July 14, 2015." These two politicians sometimes engage in direct dialogue with their audience, and their responses and writings often spark extensive discussions in the virtual space. Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, has an Instagram account with over 14,000 followers where he publishes photos of his official meetings. Morteza Talai, the Deputy Mayor of the Islamic City Council and former police chief of Tehran, also tries to establish a close connection with Tehran citizens through Instagram, with around 5,000 followers. Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati, a former Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic and advisor on international affairs to Ayatollah Khamenei, has recently joined Instagram. In his first post, he wrote: "The importance of the new media space and social networks, which today play a significant role in the field of information dissemination, has created a new opportunity for straightforward communication and direct listening in this space." Meanwhile, photos of Ahmad Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini and the son of Hassan Khomeini, are quite diverse. He often shares personal family photos, such as moments of his father playing with his little sister, along with emotional writings. Through Ahmad Khomeini's photos on Instagram, one can somewhat see the life of a young person from one of the most influential families in Iran over the past three decades in a direct and informal manner. What is important here is the language used in many of the posts published on the social media accounts of Iranian officials, which is mostly dry and formal, detached from the atmosphere of these types of networks. Rarely is there a humorous post accompanied by direct quotes in the published content, and most of the photos used in these accounts are the same official images released by domestic news agencies and media. In this context, the wives and women of politicians in the Iranian government have also joined these networks. Zahra Eshraqi, the granddaughter of Ayatollah Khomeini, shares her daily photos on Instagram with about 55,000 followers. She sometimes protests against issues such as the ban on women's entry into stadiums, stating: "When you are in the middle of a situation, you don't realize the depth of many things, but with a little distance from yourself, the situation changes, and the harsh realities rush in on you, and you understand where you stand in this maze of life. Perhaps the only reaction of tomorrow's children to the fact that one day we had nowhere but home and in front of the TV to cheer for our favorite team will be laughter... hoping for the success of our national team." Masoumeh Ebtekar, the Vice President and head of the Department of Environment, personally writes the explanations for the photos and posts published on her Instagram account, which has over 33,000 followers, and tries to establish a closer connection with her audience. In a post during this year's Quds Day rally, she wrote: "There were indeed a few loud and seemingly directed groups that came forward at critical moments and raised issues with aggression, such as why I called for addressing dog killings! Interestingly, they were chanting slogans against the sedition in a coordinated manner. But as I looked around, I saw no sign of sedition." Narges Mousavi, the daughter of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, recently congratulated her mother's birthday by posting a photo of Zahra Rahnavard on her Instagram page, which has 26,000 followers. Although the reformists' share in using social media for direct communication with their audiences is noticeable, the Instagram accounts attributed to Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, both candidates in the 2009 presidential election who are currently under house arrest, each have only 13,000 followers. According to the Minister of Communications, the number of people with smartphones in the country is reported to be 27 million, of which 9 million have access to mobile internet. However, the fundamental question is: despite the filtering of social media, which category of Iranian citizens are government officials trying to connect with, while all official government media repeatedly republish the news released on the social media accounts of government officials? In contrast, examining similar cases among foreign politicians shows their direct and informal communication with their social media audiences. For example, in the latest photo shared from Barack Obama on the White House's Instagram account, he is seen taking a selfie with a person named Bear Grylls, stating: "I’m glad this was the only bear I saw in the park (Alaska)."