Warning from the Broadcasting Regulatory Council Regarding the Broadcast of 'Off the Beaten Path'

The Broadcasting Regulatory Council announced that the airing of confessions from dancing girls on Instagram was done without coordination with the judiciary and issued a warning to the organization regarding the broadcast of 'Off the Beaten Path.' The council's information base reported on Tuesday that it reviewed the issue of the documentary 'Off the Beaten Path' in its 449th meeting. Last week, the broadcast of a program on Channel One that featured confessions from dancing girls on Instagram, particularly a girl named Maedeh Hejabi, sparked a wave of reactions among political activists, civil society members, and ordinary social media users. In that program, titled 'Off the Beaten Path,' several girls who had shared videos of their dancing on Instagram were arrested and expressed regret for their activities in front of the camera. In addition to these girls, men who introduced themselves as photographers and videographers were also present in the program or documentary. Mohammad Hossein Ranjbaran, the director of public relations for the Broadcasting Organization, defended the airing of these confessions, stating that 'the Off the Beaten Path program was produced by the social deputy of the police force and based on discussions with police officials, judicial orders had been issued for these individuals, and even a judicial authority requested that the issue of these individuals be publicized.' However, the ISNA news agency reported last Wednesday, citing a judicial source, that there was no judicial permission for airing these confessions, stating: 'The confessions of Maedeh Hejabi broadcast in the documentary Off the Beaten Path were not authorized by a judge.' A day later, the Cyber Police also emphasized in a statement that Maedeh Hejabi, one of the dancing girls on Instagram whose confessions were aired in the Off the Beaten Path program, 'had no criminal or judicial case in the Cyber Police and had not been summoned or interviewed by the Cyber Police.' The Cyber Police's statement also clarified that 'Maedeh Hejabi's actions in cyberspace were against the law and Sharia and warranted legal action,' and if a case had been submitted to the Cyber Police, 'it would have certainly been pursued.' On Sunday, July 24, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary who heads the Broadcasting Regulatory Council, defended the program 'Off the Beaten Path,' stating that it was prepared by the police without the knowledge of the case judge and that Maedeh Hejabi 'had not been detained even for one night.' The judiciary spokesperson also mentioned that the airing of these 'confessions' was not problematic since the names of the individuals were not mentioned and their images were not clear. In recent days, reactions to the airing of this program have had various dimensions, aside from protests and criticisms of the Broadcasting Organization's performance among political and civil activists inside and outside Iran, organizations such as Human Rights Watch also took a stance on it. Meanwhile, some critical political activists and opponents of the Islamic Republic abroad wrote a letter to Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, urging him to sanction the Islamic Republic's Broadcasting Organization. Simultaneously, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Minister of Communications, described the airing of Maedeh Hejabi's confessions as an attempt to divert public attention from those whose interests, according to him, are threatened by the transparency of the currency market. Gholamreza Kateb, a member of parliament and a monitoring member of the Broadcasting Regulatory Council, stated last week that the Broadcasting Organization's action in airing this program was illegal and unethical. According to this member of the Broadcasting Regulatory Council, multiple complaints from the Child Support Association and various social groups against the Broadcasting Organization had reached the council, which were supposed to be addressed in a meeting held on Tuesday. Hossein Dehghan, a media advisor to Hassan Rouhani, who is also a member of this council, requested on Twitter that if there are any complaints regarding the airing of that program, they should be reported to him or other members of the Broadcasting Regulatory Council for review and action. In a news release published by the Broadcasting Regulatory Council, the fate of pursuing these complaints is unclear, but it was mentioned that the decisions of this meeting and the warning to the Broadcasting Organization were made after 'reviewing and listening to the reports received by this council.' At the same time, the Broadcasting Regulatory Council claimed that 'there is an active and externally directed movement that has made disrespect, norm-breaking, and licentiousness in both real and virtual spaces its agenda.' This council considered the duty of the Broadcasting Organization to be 'enlightening and clarifying public opinion' and emphasized that 'it supports this organization's approach to logically and professionally confronting organized social corruption.' In another published item as results and decisions from the meeting of the Broadcasting Regulatory Council, the organization was advised to 'seek necessary consultations when addressing issues that have social, cultural, and judicial dimensions and to coordinate with relevant institutions.' According to Article 175 of the Constitution, 'a council composed of representatives of the President, the Head of the Judiciary, and the Islamic Consultative Assembly (two from each) will supervise this organization.' This council is referred to as the Broadcasting Regulatory Council, which based on that legal principle 'determines the policy and administration of the organization and supervises it.'