Earlier this week, Iran’s federal prosecutors decreed that it was illegal for the media to publish photos or news about former president Mohamed Khatami. This quickly backfired: Iranians promptly launched an online campaign titled “We are Khatami’s media” on Facebook, garnering nearly 30,000 likes in 24 hours, and many of them published photos of him under multiple hashtags.

Khatami, a moderate reformist, served as Iran’s president from 1997 to 2005, when he was succeeded by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. During his two terms in office, Khatami was criticised by hardliners for his overtures toward the West and for pushing for more social freedoms in Iran. In 2009, following the “Green movement” protests, he and three other leading reformists were arrested for “sedition”: Medhi Karoubi and Mir Hossein Moussavi (both presidential candidates), and Zahra Rahnavard (an activist and Mousavi’s wife). These three are still under house arrest today; Khatami, however, is simply prohibited from leaving the country.

Following the Green movement of 2009, Iran’s journalists received a secret order prohibiting them from publishing anything about these “Green movement leaders” – and forbidding them from talking about the ban. Tuesday was the first time the Iranian authorities openly talked about banning the media from publishing news or photos about Khatami, a move that many Iranian commenters felt was made in preparation for upcoming parliamentary elections in December.
Contributors

Reza administrator
“People are sharing his photo online not just to support him, but also to fight for freedom of expression”
Reza (not his real name) is an administrator for the Facebook page “We are Khatami’s media”. As of Friday, the page had more than 32,000 likes.

This isn’t the first time we see this type of prohibition in Iran. However, it’s the first time we’ve seen this sort of reaction from activists!

Since we don’t have the right to physically demonstrate in the streets, we protest online. It’s not any less risky – in fact, it can be more risky. When you’re out in the streets with thousands of people, it’s difficult for the authorities to go after everyone. But when you "like" a page, using your real name, that’s leaving a trace; the authorities could easily track you down and persecute you. [Editor’s Note: Numerous social media users in Iran have been arrested for comments they made online.]

I believe our campaign sends a strong signal to Iranian authorities. While Khatami is a very popular political figure in our country, the support he’s receiving now is not just about him. Many people who are sharing his photos and his quotes on social media are actually quite critical of him, but they’re doing this to support freedom of expression, and fight against conservatives who want to shut down any possibility of reform in Iran.

It’s vital to fight for freedom of expression at this juncture, since a parliamentary election is on the way. The authorities understand that any recommendation on the part of Khatami could have a big effect on how people vote…

This isn’t the first time Iranian authorities put in place such a ban. A similar ban targeted the late dissident Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri, who had a falling out with former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomenei in 1989 over government policies he decried as human rights violations, notably the mass execution of political prisoners.

FRANCE 24 journalist Ershad Alijani