Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Oct 31, 2025

Facebook Permanently Bans Iran’s Press TV Over Alleged ‘Policy Violations’

Facebook Permanently Bans Iran’s Press TV Over Alleged ‘Policy Violations’

The big three tech giants and the US government have repeatedly censored Iranian media and officials in recent years, deleting or suspending the accounts of individual politicians, seizing internet domains, blocking news agencies, and eliminating alleged puppet profiles on the basis of possible CIA misinformation.

Facebook has permanently shut down the English-language page of Iran’s Press TV news network, accusing the broadcaster of failing to “follow our Community Standards.”

Attempting to navigate to the page leads users to a notice that reads: “This Page Isn’t Available. The link may be broken, or the page may have been removed. Check to see if the link you’re trying to open is correct.”

Screengrab of PressTV's Facebook page.


Press TV says the California-based social media giant did not provide the broadcaster with any reason for the ban, saying only that it had “already reviewed this decision and it can’t be reversed.”

This is the second time Press TV has come under attack on Facebook this year. In January, the broadcaster’s page was temporarily deleted, also without any warning or explanation, with Facebook citing “safety and security reasons” for the suspension. The social media giant reversed its decision after Press TV filed an appeal. The Iranian network indicated at the time that the attack coincided with its coverage of post-election violence in the US, and that it had nearly four million followers before the ban.

Commenting on Facebook’s decision, Press TV accused the company and other US social media giants of a “blatant double standard,” suggesting that while companies “do not hesitate to silence the voice of Iranian media under the pretext of ‘policy violations,’ they offer a free hand to anti-Muslim hate groups and Iranophobes under the banner of freedom of expression.”

In a related development, Facebook blocked Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s page on Saturday after he shared “misinformation” about Covid-19 by promoting a Venezuelan-made medication which he said could help protect against or even treat the coronavirus. “We follow guidance from the [World Health Organisation] that says there is currently no medication to cure the virus,” the social media company said of the decision, noting that Maduro’s page would remain read-only for 30 days.

Friday’s ban is far from the first time that Iranian officials, media, or government entities have been censored on US-owned media platforms. Earlier this year, one of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s Twitter accounts was suspended after posting a photoshopped image of former president Donald Trump playing golf as a drone flies overhead preparing to “avenge” the murder of Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani.

Last October, the Department of Justice seized 92 Iranian government domains, claiming that they were being “unlawfully used” by the Revolutionary Guard to “engage in a global disinformation campaign.” Before that, Twitter removed over 100 “Iran-linked” accounts supposedly trying to “disrupt the conversation” during the first Biden-Trump debate.

In the summer of 2020, Facebook, Facebook and Twitter labeled multiple Iranian, Chinese and Russian news outlets as “state media,” and blocked them from buying ads targeting US users. The “state media” labels did not apply to the BBC, Deutsche Welle or other government-funded Western news agencies, nor to those accounts funded by the US government, such as Radio Free Europe.

In 2019, Twitter deleted thousands of accounts it alleged were “associated with” the Iranian government, before later admitting it never saw the CIA startup report which led to the ban. The same year, Facebook also deleted accounts belonging to prominent Revolutionary Guard figures under the pretext of US sanctions.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×