As Iraq tries to cool critics, its new target is social media

The new 'degrading content' regulations are part of a wider campaign to silence independent voices.

In a social media clip, a young Iraqi woman dances during a national football tournament. In another, she dances at her son's birthday party.

Another post shows a fashionista from Baghdad wearing clothes, including an outfit based on the Iraqi army uniform.

A fourth features a young man in a black sweatshirt and pants interviewing a young woman, also dressed in black, on her private life. It's one of many clips he's made of young people in tight clothes that strike conservative Iraqis as provocative.

A few months ago, the people featured in these clips were stars of Iraq's burgeoning social media scene. Not anymore.

They were largely silenced as they were tried, convicted and sentenced to jail time in Iraq's overcrowded prison system due to new rules of the Ministry of the Interior against "indecent" or "immoral". ” social media content.

This social media crackdown is relatively new, but part of a larger campaign to silence, dismiss or co-opt those who publicly question or criticize the government.

This broader effort has its roots in months of protests in 2019 and 2020, when young Iraqis descended on the streets to demand an end to corruption, a reduction in Iranian influence in Iraq and a new era of openness. ​These protests eventually forced the resignation of the prime minister, who was backed by Iran-linked parties in government.

Given the relative calm in Iraq today, the escalating crackdown on social media and speech more broadly may seem unexpected. Bombings, rocket attacks and shootings are rare in most of the country. The Islamic State cells that do exist are small and seem more concerned with their own survival than their widespread destruction.

However, the Iraqi coalition government is increasingly additionally controlled by political parties with ties to Iran.

Human rights and democracy advocates say to prevent any repeat of the upheaval which happened four years ago, the government seeks to limit independent voices in the public square, using legal action, detentions, online harassment, threats and sometimes kidnapping or assassination. It is often unclear which acts violate public order and morality, according to the latest US State Department human rights report, as well as a report by Human Rights Watch and other organizations of freedom of expression and the defense of human rights.

Um Fahad, the social media influencer who danced on her son's birthday , said she still does not understand why she was arrested and imprisoned. "The judge asked me why I was dancing and showing part of my chest," she said in an interview after her release from prison.

dr. Ali al-Bayati, a former member of the Iraqi Human Rights Commission who now lives outside Iraq due to legal proceedings and threats against him, said: "The idea is to silence any criticism , anything that may excite the public, change the attitude of the public and anything that may in the future aggravate public unrest."