If we’ve learned anything from social media, it’s that posting the wrong thing on social media could incite a firestorm of hate—or in Azalea Banks’s case, get you fired from a job. If you’re a woman in Iran, it could also land you in the slammer.
Iran officials announced that eight people were arrested for the abhorrent practice of modeling on social media without their mandatory head scarf, the New York Timesreported. According to the Daily Dot, the bust was part of an operation known as Spider II, which targeted "pornography and insulting Islamic sanctity." On Sunday, one woman was even questioned on live television.
26-year-old Elham Arab, who became Instagram famous for her bleached hair and vibrant photos in fancy bridal gowns, was interrogated by two prosecutors on national TV for not keeping her hair fully covered. Rather than defend her actions, Arab decided to go in another route. She told audiences of her "bitter experiences" in the country’s illegal modeling industry, warning others to take more consideration when posting pictures of themselves on the web.
"You can be certain that no man would want to marry a model whose fame has come by losing her honor," she added. Her Instagram account has since been disabled.
The segment was part of the country’s increased efforts to police the social media activities of its citizens as a way of blocking out western influence. "Sterilizing popular cyberspaces is on our agenda," Javad Babaei, Iran’s prosecutor for cybercrimes, said.
