Social media giant Twitter has suspended the new account of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that was posting messages in Hebrew. The account was opened just a day before and was sending greetings and addressing recent attacks between Iran and Israel. However, it was shut down by Twitter citing violation of rules.
The fresh account of Khamenei started on Sunday with a standard Islamic greeting in Hebrew that read “In the name of God, the most merciful.” It then sent a message in English corresponding to a speech by Khamenei on the same day regarding Israel’s attack on Iranian targets over the weekend. Though the exact reason for suspension is unclear, it came after days of rising tensions in the region following attacks from both sides.
This is not the first time Khamenei has faced action on social media platforms. In February this year, Meta removed his Facebook and Instagram profiles for supporting Palestinian militant group Hamas in the aftermath of clashes with Israel. Iran itself blocks platforms like Twitter and Facebook since many years, forcing citizens to use VPNs to access them.
Khamenei’s office has maintained multiple language accounts on Twitter in the past to send messages. However, companies appear to be more stringent about policy violations at a time of conflict. The suspension shows social giants try to curb inflammatory rhetoric linked to real world disputes and implement rules equally for all users globally. The move could further strain relations between Iran and Israel/US as debates over freedom of expression intensify online.
