Public unites online to call for halt to executions

TEHRAN: Iranians from all walks of life — teachers, doctors, designers, cooks, actors, directors, artists, homemakers, bloggers — have taken to social media with a message for the government: Stop the executions.

The online campaign, which took place on Tuesday and which analysts said was remarkable for its scope and the breadth of its support, was in response to the judiciary’s announcement earlier in the day that it had upheld the death sentences of three young men who joined anti-government protests in November.

Iran put 251 people to death last year, more than any country but China, according to Amnesty International. In recent weeks, many Iranians have been rattled by a series of executions based on murky charges, from drinking alcohol to political activism to allegedly spying for the CIA.

“I’m next, you’re next, we’re next,” read a meme widely shared online.

It was a rare moment of solidarity among Iranians of varying political views around a single issue. Human rights activists said it suggested that Iranians were seeking new ways to be heard, with the government having brutally crushed street protests and other forms of dissent. By midday on Tuesday, the most-tweeted hashtag within Iran was #DontExecute in Persian, according to Twitter. Iranians all over the world joined the campaign, and the hashtag trended globally, with nearly 4.5 million tweets.

“I’ve never seen a hashtag with this level of participation from Iranians,” said Amir Rashidi, a digital researcher with a focus on internet security. Past issues, including political prisoners and Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, had generated considerable social media engagement but not like what was seen on Tuesday, he said.

The call to end executions also generated tens of thousands of posts on other platforms popular in Iran, like Instagram and Telegram.

NetBlocks, which tracks global internet usage, reported significant internet disruption within Iran on Tuesday night, as did individual Iranians. The government routinely disrupts or shuts off the internet and mobile services when faced with protests or significant internal dissent.