The Limited Freedoms of Authoritarian Government: Women’s Rights in Iran

In this week’s Handful episodes, I looked into Iran’s strict ruling against public singing for women and internet-wide censorship and shutdowns.

• Shia Muslim clerics in Iran believe that a woman’s voice can be erotic. Because of this, Iranian women are legally banned from singing solo.
• In addition to singing, in recent years women have been fined, censored, and imprisoned because of dancing, many of whom are posting videos of themselves dancing in their bedrooms.

• In 2018, Iranian judiciaries threatened to close Instagram altogether due to its “unwanted content” being shared privately by users, but consumed publicly. Access to Twitter is already banned in Iran.
• According to Freedom House, Iran is categorized as “not free”, ranking the 17th least free out of 100 countries.
• In this system, the Iranian government has successfully suppressed distant and applied restrictions on civil liberties for 40 years and counting. 

• In the past couple of years, authoritarian governments across the world have increasingly used internet disruptions and blockades as ways to silence opposition and crush both public and private dissent.
• In November 2019, Iranian officials completed the most historically severe internet shutdown in the world.
• For Iran, controlling the country’s online spaces – Instagram and beyond – is seen as absolutely necessary for the survival of the regime and absolute authoritarianism.

Check back on Monday for new episodes of Handful!