The Story of 'Secret Freedoms' for Facebook Employees

More than six months have passed since the launch of the Facebook page 'Secret Freedoms of Iranian Women,' which has over 700,000 followers and is considered one of the most popular independent Facebook pages. This page was activated by Iranian journalist Masih Ali-Nad, who has published images of hundreds of Iranian women not wearing Islamic hijab in public spaces in Iran. According to the laws of the Islamic Republic, Iranian women are required to maintain their hijab in public places. The willingness of Iranian women to share their images on this Facebook page led Masih Ali-Nad to visit Facebook last week and speak to its employees about the conditions of women in Iran. The program 'Another Voice' on Radio Farda conducted an interview with Masih Ali-Nad. What led to your invitation to Facebook's headquarters? Masih Ali-Nad: I had seen in speeches by Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's COO, that she mentioned the page 'Secret Freedoms of Iranian Women' as one of her favorite pages and that it motivates her to work at Facebook. At that time, I thought her attention was limited to that speech. But when she invited me to visit Facebook and participate in a Q&A session with Facebook employees, I was very happy. Because for me, as a journalist, it is essential to understand how to use social networks to amplify the voices of the censored people who lack media in our country. And now this voice has become so loud that the COO of Facebook wanted to learn more about it. Ms. Ali-Nad, what features does the 'Secret Freedoms' page currently have that have attracted the attention of Facebook's COO? Social networks aim to empower ordinary citizens to tell their stories. They allow people to write about their personal lives. This means transforming ordinary citizens into media, personal media, and delivering censored topics to mainstream media is one of the goals of social networks. Empowering women, in particular, is a concern that Ms. Sandberg herself has. Even the Fars News Agency, when reporting on Ms. Sheryl Sandberg, could not write negative points and actually referred to her as a successful woman. Such a woman finds it important when she sees Iranian women, who are not necessarily political activists or human rights activists, welcoming a page where they fight for their rights that they struggle for daily, and they have started to talk about stories that have only been discussed in the streets for 35 years. Now all these voices have come together. This voice has become so loud that now a woman in Zanjan, a woman in Kerman, a woman in northern Iran writes about her concerns regarding the Islamic hijab, and the next day, Figaro, Le Monde, Spiegel, Republic, and famous newspapers from various countries report on that woman and her demands. Therefore, I believe the 'Secret Freedoms' page has attracted the attention of Facebook employees because they wanted to empower ordinary citizens. And now they see that ordinary women have truly used Facebook to show a different face of Iran that has always been hidden under a veil. Was the issue of compulsory hijab in Iran and the response of Iranian women to it important to Facebook employees? You asked a good question. Because when I heard the questions from Facebook employees on this topic, I realized that many of them did not know that Iranian women have to wear a headscarf from the age of seven when they go to school. Many other Facebook employees asked how Facebook is filtered in Iran, yet so many users can bypass the filtering and express their opinions. Most importantly, there are various groups on Facebook, like the Muslim group. It is interesting that we always hear in Iran that Facebook is a Zionist organization. In this Facebook, which has eight thousand employees, there are 50 Iranians, educated and truly admirable Iranians. This Muslim group asked: Your voice regarding the hijab has become so loud and all social networks have heard that Iranian women are fighting against the hijab; they are concerned that this may create the impression that you are against the hijab. I explained to them that the right to choose is important for Iranian women. In any case, I wanted to say that for each Facebook employee from different nationalities and countries with various beliefs, there were questions that we might think many know. But it was not really the case. I even told Ms. Sheryl Sandberg that Iranians were upset that you mentioned in an interview with Fortune magazine that you read the writings of Iranian women on the 'Secret Freedoms' page in Arabic. I want to say that every Iranian living in a country is an ambassador and should present the culture of Iran and the problems that an Iranian woman or citizen faces in a manner that is worthy of ourselves to find a solution for improving our living conditions and human rights. You mentioned on the 'Secret Freedoms' page that you would be a guest for Facebook employees and asked followers of this page to share any questions they had with you. Were there any questions raised, and were you able to address them at Facebook? I encountered questions that perhaps had not crossed my mind. There was a repeated emphasis that Facebook users in Iran do not have security. Some administrators of Facebook pages are identified and arrested; I explained that an Iranian woman who was interviewed and her interview was published on Radio Farda was only an administrator of a Facebook page but was sentenced to 20 years in prison. When you look at this woman's background, she has no activities. Or Soheil Arabi, who has been sentenced to death for being an admin of several Facebook pages. I interviewed prisoners who were in the same cell with him. I raised these issues: Is there a way for Facebook users or even administrators of various pages to operate safely without being identified by the Iranian government? Another point raised by Iranians was that Iran's name does not appear in the advertising sections. Both Ms. Sheryl Sandberg and her Facebook colleagues found this point interesting and said they would definitely follow up on it. Another point was that Iran is among the countries where Facebook is filtered, but we see that some senior figures in Iran and Iranian leaders are also members of Facebook. This may seem very ironic, but I suggested that just as known figures who are verified by Facebook receive a blue check, it might not be a bad idea to give a red check to the leaders of countries that filter Facebook but are members of Facebook themselves. Just to show that there are double standards in this country. Let's return to the 'Secret Freedoms' page. What is the current status of this page? Are you still receiving images from Iran, and do Iranian women continue to express their desire to have the right to choose their hijab? Absolutely. In the acid attack incident, I thought women would be scared and would return to the previous environment and not share their personal concerns. But the bravest photos and images after the acid attack from the city of Isfahan have been sent to the page. Videos of the gathering of people in Isfahan that were sent to this page also made their way to official media. This shows that women, despite all the pressure and feelings of insecurity, still want to participate in social networks. In response to the questions from Facebook employees when the courage of the women on this page was discussed, I mentioned that these women have been protesting against compulsory hijab in Iran for years. This protest exists, but the media's eyes have always been closed to it. However, here in social networks, women have gained the power to find each other, and this page has allowed women's voices to be heard louder than before. This does not mean that Iranian women have accepted 35 years of compulsion; rather, Iranian women have raised their voices through social networks this time louder and louder.