Since the beginning of 2024, “spreading lies” has been the most frequently attributed charge to journalists and media outlets in Iran. This charge, often applied in an extra-legal context, is used by the Islamic Republic to systematically undermine the credibility of independent information dissemination.
Based on documented cases by the Defending Free Flow of Information (DeFFI), since the start of 2024, out of 36 cases examined in this report, “spreading lies to disturb public opinion,” under Articles 698 and 746 of the Islamic Penal Code, has been cited 24 times. Other frequent charges include “propaganda against the system” under Article 500 (five times), “disclosure of classified documents” under Article 505 (four times), “removal of hijab” under Articles 638 and 639 (twice), and “insulting the Supreme Leader” under Article 514 (once).
This data indicates that in 67% of the cases formed against media and journalists, “spreading lies” has been at least one of the repeated charges. Based on this charge, complaints have been filed in 11 cases against the media and journalists. In 11 cases, journalists and media outlets were found guilty in political and press courts, and in one case, a journalist’s prison sentence, previously sentenced for spreading lies, was executed.
An analysis of the instances where the charge of spreading lies was attributed to journalists and media outlets in cases documented by DeFFI shows that this charge is applied in an extra-legal context, lacking criminal substance, by the judicial bodies of the Islamic Republic against media personnel.
The case of the only journalist who has been imprisoned for spreading lies since the beginning of 2024 supports DeFFI’s findings.
**Nasrin Hassani**, a journalist and the manager of the Siāhat-e Sharq weekly, was arrested on January 4, 2024, and transferred to the prison in Bojnord after reporting to Branch 2 of the Bojnord Execution of Sentences Prosecutor’s Office to serve her sentence. On November 5, 2023, Branch 103 of the Bojnord Criminal Court sentenced her to seven months in prison for “spreading lies through computer and telecommunication systems to disturb public opinion,” under Article 746 of the Islamic Penal Code, and a fine of one million tomans for “appearing in public without a proper hijab,” under Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code.
In the verdict against Nasrin Hassani, the judge stated that, based on a report by the North Khorasan Intelligence Organization of the IRGC, “the said person (Nasrin Hassani) committed criminal acts during the 2021 riots.”
“2021 riots” is a term used by judicial and security bodies to refer to the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests in the fall of 2022.
An examination of the content published by Nasrin Hassani on social media, as well as statements from informed sources, shows that she reposted videos and statements from the relatives of those killed during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests and condemned state violence against protesting citizens.
The judge’s claim of spreading lies in this case lacks criminal substance and legal basis, as the truth of Nasrin Hassani’s statements on social media is verifiable through existing videos, photos, eyewitness testimonies, and reports from non-governmental human rights organizations.
A statistical analysis of similar cases since the start of 2024 also shows that out of 24 cases against journalists and media outlets for spreading lies, in 21 cases (87%), it was the media and its managers who were judicially prosecuted for this charge.
These findings prove that the repression of journalists and media in Iran is complex and multi-layered. The judicial and security bodies of the Islamic Republic, aiming to mislead public opinion and international bodies about the depth and extent of the disruption of independent information dissemination in Iran, systematically discredit journalists and media. This is done through an extra-legal process and without criminal substance by accusing media personnel of spreading lies. They concentrate judicial pursuits on media to force them into self-censorship and inactivity to avoid higher costs and potential closures. By repeatedly filing judicial cases against media managers, they indirectly pressure journalists. Through the repetition of charges and similar cases, they attempt to clearly delineate and emphasize the intolerable boundaries and topics of publication for media personnel by the Islamic Republic.