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Online Protests Erupt In Iran After Arrest Of Teenager For Social Media Posts | NPR

Iranians are protesting and mocking clerical rulers on social media after the arrest of a teenage girl for posting videos of herself dancing on Instagram. Maedeh Hojabri currently has more than 11,000 followers and had uploaded dozens clips in which she is dancing to Western and Iranian music.

Islamic sharia law in Iran has strict requirements for women in public: they are required to wear headscarves and dancing is banned. Instagram, however, has blurred the lines between public and private spheres in the country. The social media site is one of the only Western social media outlets allowed — Facebook and Twitter are blocked.

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Iranian authorities may have intended her arrest as a warning to the public, but it has also inspired an outpouring of support from Iranians, many of whom use the hashtag, #dancingisnotacrime. Women posted videos of themselves dancing, or wrote messages in support of Hojabri. Some posted messages to social media from outside the country; others used VPNs and other software to access Twitter from inside Iran.

Source: Online Protests Erupt In Iran After Arrest Of Teenager For Social Media Posts : NPR