Iran has arrested eight people for working in
"un-Islamic" online modelling networks,
particularly on Instagram, the head of
Tehran's cybercrimes court said on state
television.
The arrests were made under a two-year-old
sting operation named "Spider II", targeting
among others models who post photos
online without the hijab covering the hair
that is compulsory for women in public in
Iran since its 1979 Islamic revolution.
It identified 170 people running online
Instagram pages -- 59 photographers and
makeup artists, 58 models, 51 fashion salon
managers and designers, and two active
institutions, according to a statement from
the special court.
"We found out that
about 20 percent of the
(Iranian) Instagram feed is run by the
modelling circle," Javad Babaei said on
state television late Sunday.
They have been "making and spreading
immoral and un-Islamic culture and
promiscuity", he said.
Babaei said it was the judiciary’s duty to
"confront those who committed these
crimes in an organised manner".
In addition to the eight arrests, criminal
cases have been opened against 21 other
people, he said.
The sting operation has homed in on a
database of over 300 popular Iranian
Instagram accounts and connected
accounts, Babaei said.
His comments followed a live "educational
court session" on Sunday at which a former
model said she had been earning money
through the popular photosharing mobile
application Instagram.
The average monthly income for a
successful model is 100 million rials
($3,330), the woman, named as Elham Arab
by the judiciary-linked website Mizan Online,
told Tehran's prosecutor.
Instagram is extremely popular in Iran.
Unlike Facebook, Twitter and YouTube which
remain blocked, Instagram is accessible to
Iranians.
The crackdown seems to refer to the eight
arrests announced by judiciary spokesman
Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejeie in early
March.
He reported the "arrest of eight models,
some of whom were released on bail and
some informed (of the law and freed)."
"Some of them had heavy charges like
spreading prostitution and promoting
corruption," he said.
"Some ... entered these networks
unknowingly and thought these are
commission jobs they are being paid for, so
these people were not arrested."
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