So a few day ago, the Iranian government arrested 18-year old Iran citizen Maedeh Hojabri. But what was her crime? Simply dancing on Instagram in casual clothes! But now, other Iranian women use social media to protest this arrest.
Because in Iran, the sharia law government has strict rules against women dancing on social media. However, Hojabri has over 300 Instagram videos of her dancing to Iranian and American pop music. Soon, the government arrested her and 3 others for this. She even confessed on their state TV.? Thankfully, she posted bail and is free. However, this started a social media movement among Iranian women.
There is a hashtag movement going on they call #dancing_isn’t_a_crime. Women are picking up their computers and smartphone cameras to dance in support of Maedeh Hojabri. One young lady not only dances in causal clothing, but has a message for Iran. She calls out their hypocrisy. Basically, she says young women could get arrested for dancing, but her government let rapists and child molesters go free. She speaks truth. Another dances on the street in public. On her Twitter page, she says she dances to support the girl they arrested. Also on Twitter, while dancing, one young lady says she dances to let them know they can’t take away their happiness. These are some ways Iranian women use social media to protest.
This isn’t the first time Iran’s sharia laws embarrassed them on the world stage. A few years ago, they locked up six people because they danced to the Pharrell William’s ‘Happy’ song. Iran’s people took to social media, IT support and IT service before. Back in 2009, Iranian people took to social media to protest a corrupt election. So here we are again. And they let the world know again. This is why social media is so powerful. It exposes injustice and brutality, even in super secret nations. If this happened 20 years ago, do you think we would even know? Do you think the outcry would be as strong?