In the first days of the protests that have swept across Iran, a journalist called Reza was beaten by riot police and had his press card confiscated. Then, after sharing a post about the protests on social media, he was suspended.
“My editor informed me that they were taking this [decision] because I defamed the regime, and therefore defamed my publication.” He has since been reinstated, but his job has changed. “I am writing what they’re asking me to write. They’re trying to push stories of how all the news about the protests is untrue. I am in survival mode, so I continue to write what they tell me to.”
