Facebook, Instagram account of Iran’s Supreme Leader suspended, META gave this reason

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said on Thursday (February 8) that it has banned the accounts of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for violating the social media organization’s content policy. “We have removed these accounts for repeatedly violating our Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy,” a Meta spokesperson told AFP news agency. According to Meta, Khamenei’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were allegedly part of a network engaged in inauthentic activity and misleading people about who he is and what he is doing, news website Al Bawaaba reported.

On opening the Instagram account of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the message “This page is not available” is popping up on the screen. Al Bawaaba’s report further states that Meta has reportedly removed 200 Facebook and 125 Instagram accounts, nine groups and 29 pages linked to the said Iranian network. Although Meta did not mention the Israel-Hamas war, the technology group is under pressure to impose sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader following the October 7 attack by the Iran-backed Palestinian group. Meta’s policy, on which the decision was based, states that organizations or individuals that “proclaim violent missions or are engaged in violence are not allowed on the firm’s social media portals in an effort to prevent them from having a presence on our platforms.” and prevent real-world damage.

The policy further states that Meta will remove glorification, endorsement and representation of various dangerous organizations and individuals. Iran was one of the first countries to applaud Hamas’ attack against Israel, which left more than 1,000 people dead and more than 200 taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. Khamenei, who has been in power in the country for 35 years, praised the killings in front of millions of his followers and tweeted to Israelis in broken Hebrew, “You have brought this disaster upon yourself.”