News / Politics

Facebook, in fresh attack on free speech, deletes al-Alam TV page permanently

Monday, 07 March 2022 11:20 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 07 March 2022 11:33 AM ]

Facebook permanently deletes Iran's al-Alam TV page

American social media giant Facebook has “permanently” removed the page of Iran’s Arabic-language television news network al-Alam TV from its platform without giving any prior notice.

The new attack against freedom of expression comes as al-Alam TV Facebook page, which was launched in 2010, had attracted some 6,000,000 followers over the past years.

Facebook had earlier refused to register al-Alam TV’s page, claiming that the Tehran-based network had not complied with its terms regarding the publication of photos of the flags and the leaders of Lebanese Hezbollah, Yemen’s Ansarullah and Palestinian resistance groups.

This is while a number of other media outlets freely publish pictures of leaders of Takfiri militant groups, including al-Qaeda terrorist outfit, on their Facebook pages.

The al-Alam TV Facebook page had "temporarily" been blocked in January 2020 following the assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units, in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport.

Facebook disables Press TV’s page in new attack on free speech

Facebook permanently disables Press TV’s account in a new attack on free speech.

Back in late January, Facebook permanently deleted the page of Iranian Spanish language news channel Hispan TV.

Over the past years, Facebook — along with YouTube, Twitter and Google — have repeatedly targeted media outlets of Iran and the countries critical of the West and the Israeli regime’s occupation of Palestine.

Last January, Facebook briefly disabled the account of Press TV with nearly four million followers, alleging that Iran’s international English news network was not eligible to use the social media platform.

However, it reversed the decision hours later in response to an appeal filed by Press TV.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk