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Iran has blocked access to a page on Instagram dedicated to the lifestyle of the young elite of Tehran that stirred strong displeasure and had spawned a rival page that showed how most people in Iran live.
The “Richkidsoftehran” page was created in September on Instagram and had attracted around 90,000 followers, with its contributors stating that they wanted to depict a side of Iran which was not a Western stereotype. Its photo gallery was full of pictures of luxury watches, Maseratis, Ferraris and expensive homes in northern Tehran, “all the accessories a Persian boy needs”.
It also showcased pictures of drink-fueled parties and women wearing western clothes, despite the ban of alcohol in the country, where women are required to wear a headscarf.
According to weblognews.ir, a website which tracks Islamic conservatives in the country, the Instagram page was blocked due to the “vulgar” content shared on it.
“These kinds of shows are for the people who are empty inside and now they want to fill that emptiness by showing off”, read a comment on the page.
Earlier in the month, “richkidsoftehran” was also a page on Facebook, which like YouTube and Twitter, is inaccessible in the Islamic republic on the grounds that it undermines Islamic values.
The Hafte-Sobh newspaper took aim at “a class of young people who stubbornly and with the backup of their wealth, are having fun and live their own special way of life, and the Iranian system cannot touch them”.
The newspaper Taadol poured scorn on “a class of nouveau riche who cropped up like mushrooms” during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency from 2005 to 2013.
Government “stocks and corruption allowed the birth of these nouveaux riches in an extraordinary way, especially through commerce”, it said.
Rival page “poorkidsoftehran” pokes fun at the controversial page of its rich counterparts – it features keys to a Saipa Pride, one of the cheapest cars in Iran, in stark contrast to a Porshe.
