Social Media Platform 'X' Permanently Blocks News Agency 'Mizan' Account

'Mizan', the official news agency of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, announced the permanent blocking of its account on the social media platform 'X'. On Saturday, February 17, the news agency wrote that the social media platform X had blocked Mizan's account 'forever' without 'any warning'. According to Mizan, on Thursday, February 15, the blue checkmark of this news agency was first removed, and on Saturday, the account was permanently blocked. Mizan claims that in the link attached to the blocked account, there is no explanation, and only a general reference to the rules of the platform is made. Mizan's report notes that account blocking on social media usually occurs after the publication of content that violates the platform's rules, ignoring warnings, and repeated violations. The blocking of Mizan's account comes at a time when X removed the blue and gold checkmarks of several Iranian state media outlets such as Press TV, Tasnim, and IRNA on February 15. Blue checkmarks on X indicate accounts that pay for verification, while gold is reserved for official organizations. This action faced protests from the Islamic Republic, with the news network Press TV calling it a result of 'Israeli lobby pressure'. The Washington-based Transparency Technology Project criticized X's management on Wednesday for providing 'premium and paid services' to accounts affiliated with the Iranian government and reminded that the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Press TV, Tasnim, and their affiliated media last September. The project also announced the identification of 28 accounts related to Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iranian and Russian state media on X that have blue or gold checkmarks. According to the U.S. Treasury, 'sanctions generally prohibit any transactions by U.S. persons or within the United States with sanctioned individuals or organizations.' When X was known as Twitter, it provided account verification for free. Elon Musk, after acquiring the platform in 2022, made the blue verification mark contingent on payment. The company 'Meta', owner of Instagram and Facebook, has also recently blocked the accounts of Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on these social media platforms.