In a social media clip, a young Iraqi woman dances at a national soccer tournament. In another, she dances at her son’s birthday party.
Another post shows a Baghdad fashionista Model clothing including an outfit based on the Iraqi Army uniform.
A quarter characteristics A young man in a black sweatshirt and black trousers interviews a young woman, also dressed in black, about her private life. It’s one of several clips he’s shot of young people in form-fitting dresses that conservative Iraqis see as a provocation.
A few months ago, the people featured in these clips were stars of Iraq’s booming social media scene. No longer.
They were largely silenced by being tried, convicted and sentenced to imprisonment over new Interior Ministry rules against “indecent” or “immoral” crimes in Iraq’s overcrowded prison system. Social Media Content.
This crackdown on social media is relatively new, but is part of a broader campaign to silence, sideline, or co-opt those who publicly question or criticize the government.
This broader effort dates back to months of demonstrations in 2019 and 2020, when young Iraqis took to the streets demanding an end to corruption and a reduction in corruption Iranian influence in Iraq and a new era of openness. These demonstrations eventually forced the resignation of the prime minister, who was supported by Iran-affiliated parties in the government.
Given the relative calm in Iraq today, the increasing repression of social media and expression in general might seem unexpected. Bombings, rocket attacks and shootings are rare in most parts of the country. The existing Islamic State cells are small and seem more concerned with their own survival than with wholesale destruction.
However, the Iraqi coalition government is increasingly controlled by political parties with ties to Iran.
Human rights and democracy advocates say the government is trying to limit independent voices in the public space to prevent a repeat of the unrest of four years ago, using lawsuits, detention, online harassment, threats and the occasional kidnapping or assassination. According to the statement by the US State Department, it is often unclear which acts violate public order and morality Current report on human rights, as well as a report by Human Rights Watch and other freedom of expression and human rights organizations.
Um Fahad, the social media influencer who danced at her son’s birthday, said she still doesn’t understand why she was arrested and jailed. “The judge asked me why I was dancing and showing part of my chest,” she said in an interview after her release from prison.
dr Ali al-Bayati, a former member of the Iraqi Human Rights Commission who now lives outside Iraq because of lawsuits and threats against him, said: “The idea is to silence any criticism, anything that can incite or change the public . attitude and anything that may lead to an escalation of public unrest in the future.”
The Commission itself has been largely silenced. In 2021, the federal court stripped commissioners of their immunity, leaving them vulnerable to financially crippling lawsuits from politicians, departments or parties. This slowed down the Commission’s efforts to hold Iraqi government officials or institutions accountable for human rights violations under Iraqi and international law.
With this critical watchdog neutered, politicians, political parties and individuals associated with religious organizations have refined their efforts to reduce public criticism of the government and government figures and create an atmosphere conducive to self-censorship.
The Iraqi government, in turn, says journalists and pro-democracy organizations in the country have many more freedoms than they did under Saddam Hussein, when the press was completely controlled by the government. Officials point out that when government critics are prosecuted in court, in most cases they ultimately prevail. However, this fails to take into account that even if the person is released or the case is dropped, detention can harm a person’s livelihood or family.
“Our journalists can go anywhere and most of them have respect for our society and they have the right to speak,” said Saad Ma’an, who heads the interior ministry’s new committee that checks social media for illegal content.
The new social media rules went into effect in January, when the ministry launched a platform allowing Iraqis to denounce or report content that “offends public morals, contains negative and indecent messages and undermines social stability.”
So far, Mr. Ma’an said, the ministry has received more than 150,000 complaints. Of these, 14 people were charged with posting “indecent” or “immoral” content on social media, and these eight were also charged sentenced to prison terms between six months and two years. The deadlines in the appeals process are often shortened. Many complaints are still being investigated.
Mr Ma’an said the new rules aim to “protect our families”. He added, “There’s a right to talk on social media, on Facebook, on Tik Tok, but there’s a line. You can’t cross that line.”
He used them as examples two clips in which two different social media influencers hugged their young sons and talked lewdly about love; One of these was the same fashionista who modeled the army uniform.
Although Iraq’s popular social media influencers have received the most attention lately, the campaign has been at least as harsh on those who criticize Iraqi government officials.
Among them is Mohammed Nena, a political researcher and author who said in essays and on television during the prime minister’s election campaign that the future prime minister lacked strategic vision and would be held hostage by Shia parties with ties to Iran, who supported him . Mr Nena was accused of defamation by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and arrested on March 25. Released on bail, he is awaiting trial.
Haider Hamdani, a journalist in southern Iraq who reports on corruption, has been acquitted on eight counts, but eight others remain pending. One of these was filed this spring by the governor of Basra, who offered to drop the case if Mr Hamdani would apologize and disavow what he had written.
Mr Hamdani, who had written about corruption in the purchase of heavy machinery and ambulances in Basra and named those who had benefited, declined. He was arrested and the judge posted bail of 50 million Iraqi dinars, about $37,600. He received threatening phone calls almost every day, he said. “I get anonymous messages saying, ‘Shut up, leave these issues alone or your life will be in danger and you will have children.'”
Many of the legal actions are based on Iraq’s 1969 penal code, These include a criminal law prohibiting “insulting another person” or “hurting their feelings,” according to attorneys familiar with the cases, and laws against “insulting” various government officials or agencies. The Iraqi ConstitutionWritten in 2005 with Western collaboration, the book guarantees freedom of expression and freedom of the press, but also says that any public expression of opinion should not “offend public order and morals” and does not define these terms.
Dissenters were also repressed through more violent methods, including kidnappings, beatings and killings by masked men driving civilian vehicles. The government often speaks of these as rogue groups posing as militias, while the State Department report describes them as “paramilitary militias.”
In February, Jassim al-Asadi, a well-known advocate for the Iraqi swamps, declared that part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, said he was kidnapped and tortured by an armed group after saying Turkey and Iran were holding back the water needed to sustain the swamps. “I thought I was going to be killed,” he said. “If it wasn’t for my family and my tribe and the people who stood up for me, I would be dead.”
The government has never brought charges for his kidnapping.
Pro-democracy advocates who want substantive changes in government are discouraged. They say real protest has become impossible, both because of the new threats and the government’s turn away from the political party of Shia nationalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which poses the only serious challenge to the current ruling coalition.
“There is no leadership now,” said Shuja al-Khafaji, 33, who four years ago was one of many young people leading the anti-government opposition and was kidnapped by an armed group and held for about a day for about a day not identified.
“Democracy in Iraq is now like in other Arab countries,” he said, “meaning it’s very limited.” You can’t ask about certain things without someone saying it’s an insult and filing a lawsuit. “
Falih Hassan And Jaafar al-Waely contributed to reporting from Baghdad.
