In the shadows of control and surveillance, Instagram has been a window to the outside world for millions of Iranians. Today, however, that small window is being stamped "confiscated." The Islamic Republic's cyber police, employing tactics reminiscent of the property confiscations of the 1980s, have now turned to plundering citizens' digital identities. They physically summon users—from celebrities to ordinary citizens—and under interrogation pressure, steal the keys to their digital domains.
The digital confiscation process operates with military precision: first arrest, then lengthy interrogation, extraction of passwords, deletion of all social media posts, and finally, planting the flag of confiscation on the doorway of these digital homes. This action echoes a similar history when newspapers were seized and media offices sealed.
This forced silencing in the virtual space connects to Iran's historical pattern of media suppression—from the closure of Reform Era newspapers to the extensive filtering of online platforms in the 2000s and 2010s, culminating in digital suppression and internet blackouts following the December 2017 and November 2019 protests. The difference today is that the government has moved beyond merely restricting access to completely confiscating individuals' digital identities—as if not only their voice, but even their digital image and memory must be erased from existence.
Meta and Instagram's management must ask themselves: has a tool built to connect people now become a lever for repression and intimidation? Since Telegram's blocking in 2018 and the extensive internet restrictions during the November 2019 and September 2022 protests, a clear pattern of digital space limitation in Iran has emerged. Meta's historic responsibility now is to develop intelligent systems that can detect account confiscation patterns—algorithms capable of identifying unusual behaviors such as mass content deletion and profile changes to specific confiscation insignia, automatically locking the account when detected. Meta could also create secure recovery pathways that remain inaccessible to authorities even during physical detention. Will technology giants stand against this instrumental use of their platforms for repression?
