Censorship of Iran Protests by Facebook/Meta (email to Stephen Bates - Greens)
Stephen Bates (MP, Seat of Brisbane - Greens)
From: N.W. Azal
Date: Fri, Dec 9, 2022 at 4:08 PM
Subject: Censorship of Iran Protests by Facebook/Meta
9 December 2022
Dear Stephen Bates, greetings:
I live in Ashgrove, Brisbane in your
electorate and voted for you at the federal election last May. This email is
also being cc-d to Senator Penny Wong (Federal Commonwealth Minister for
Foreign Affairs).
Although having lived most of my life outside my country of birth, I am an Iranian by birth and am fully in support of the Iranian people who are protesting the Iranian regime and its abysmal human rights record. So I wish to thank you for your ongoing support of our cause.
That said, I wish to bring to your
attention an issue that should concern you as well as the Federal Commonwealth
Minister regarding the Iran Protests; and that is, that Facebook/Meta
corporation appears to be deliberately amplifying the voice of the Iranian
regime while indiscriminately and punitively punishing and censoring the voices
of its critics wanting to get information out to the general public on its
platforms (Facebook and Instagram). Since the inception of these protests in
September, countless journalists and individuals alike have complained about
the bizarre and often heavy-handed censorial actions of Facebook/Meta:
journalists and individuals who have either been blocked, demonetised or
completely de-platformed altogether by Facebook/Meta for merely bringing issues
to the public attention regarding the systematic human rights violations
ongoing in Iran. Yet nothing seems to be done about it.
Just today I myself was given a 29-day block for sharing the following Twitter video <https://twitter.com/i/status/1601022583461138432> by Chelsea Hart (whom I follow on Twitter) on my Facebook wall. This video is about the execution of one of the Iran protesters that occurred less than two days ago from this writing: Mohsen Shekari. Later Chelsea herself announced on her Twitter feed that she herself has been actioned and demonetized by Facebook/Instagram for the post <https://twitter.com/chelseahartisme/status/1601067544210640896>. Several other people have reported the same; meaning, that Facebook/Meta is punitively actioning anyone sharing Chelsea Hart's Twitter video drawing attention to the execution of Mohsen Shekari. However, no identifiable breach of Facebook's "Community Standards" can be found that justifies Facebook/Instagram/Meta's actions against her and all those sharing her content.
During her 2021 US congressional testimony, the Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen characterized Facebook/Meta as a "democracy manipulator." She also suggested ongoing business linkages and contacts between Facebook/Meta and a variety of governments and actors who are documented human rights violators. At the moment, while aiding the aggressive Russian war effort against Ukraine and its people through the sale of drones, there have also been persistent rumors that the Iranian regime has purchased Russian bots which it has deployed on Facebook/Meta social media platforms with its consent. Such bots would then be responsible for the widespread censorship occurring on Facebook/Meta platforms targeting Iranians within Iran and abroad alike (as well as their non-Iranian allies such as Chelsea Hart) protesting against the regime and its systematic human rights violations. Such bots in the employ of the Iranian regime, and active on Facebook/Meta platforms, are also now targeting Australian citizens such as myself, and so I believe this matter needs to be brought to your full attention as well as the full attention of the Federal Commonwealth parliament as a whole and other relevant Commonwealth federal ministries and departments because there are several pertinent issues involved here, including the national security of Australia itself as well as the civil, human and digital rights of Australian citizens active on Facebook/Meta platforms. In other words, Iranian-Australians such as myself are asking for advocacy against the 'democracy manipulative' actions being undertaken by Facebook/Meta corporation.
If there is any additional
information you require on this case, I would be more than happy to speak or
meet with you. I can also be reached at any time on this email.
I look forward to hearing from you.
With warmest regards,
Wahid Azal
