The Twitter social networking site has suspended a number of Iranian news accounts, allegedly in response to the government’s harassment of those who follow the Baha’i faith.
Among the accounts that were suspended on Saturday were the state-run IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency), the semi-official Mehr News Agency, and the IRIB state broadcaster-run “Young Journalists Club” – all of them in Farsi language.
The FARS news agency and English-language Press TV news accounts are still active at present. Twitter is banned in Iran, but many can access the site via VPNs.
A source at Twitter confirmed to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that the accounts were suspended for “coordinated and targeted harassment of people associated with Baha’i.”
The minority faith numbers some 300,000 in Iran with hundreds of followers who have been murdered since the 1980s, and more who have been harassed, imprisoned and tortured.