To anyone who may be following me, to any of my mutuals who happen to see this,

I've posted a few articles about Iran, because I've become increasingly concerned about the situation over there. There was legislature proposed last July about a permanent internet shutdown, and as feared, it really looks like the Islamic Republic of Iran has since pushed it into law, or they're about to, despite having many Iranian citizens opposed to it.

There have been many protests in Iran over the insane increases made to prices of food products such as wheat and dairy, going far back since the beginning of May up til now, and not only has the government shut down the internet entirely during those weeks, but it's also been "cracking down" - as in, beating protesters on the street, throwing tear gas at them, and even opening fire at them (gun shots were heard).

And the internet shutdowns make it nearly impossible for Iranians to post videos documenting this on social media, and expose the regime's corruption and abuse of power. Their internet is heavily monitored by the govt. - certain websites are outright banned (such as Tumblr). They're not allowed to post their own opinions, or anything pro LGBTQIA, let alone even the slightest criticism of the regime, and the punishments they face for doing so are extremely severe. Against-human-rights-level-of-severe. As of now, these people are literally being silenced.

Before I continue, I just want to state that I don't know everything that's happening over there, far from it in fact - this is just from what I've read, and I might even have gotten a few details wrong. It's why I've been posting links to various articles, because I'd rather not have people solely take my very limited knowledge on the situation. If you can, please read some of the articles I've posted, or look into Iranian current news on your own.

If anyone is wondering about why I'm writing about something happening across the world from where I live: well, for one, this is something we should all probably get into the habit of doing, if only because Iranian people deserve our attention. So many posts were made about Ukraine and the devastating war over there, and rightly so, but Iranians are no less important than Ukrainians, and what's being done to them by their own government is genuinely horrific. Awareness needs to be brought to what's happening in Iran right now, we all should be spreading this as much as we can.

But another reason why I'm writing this is because... I know there have been many Iranians who have used Tumblr. Despite the regime's control, despite the banning of this site and many others. Iranian people have been on Tumblr, have been within our fandoms. Have played a huge part in those fandoms. There's a high chance you're following an Iranian person's blog right now, or are even mutuals with some. There are Iranian people who have posted beautiful fan art and written deep, poignant fanfiction. Iranian people who have written the most insightful meta of your favorite movies, shows, and characters that you've ever read. You're probably subscribed to them on AO3. And if you're like me - you've probably befriended them.

Which brings me to the heart of why I'm writing this at 2 am in the morning - bc they're not just random people on the other side of the globe - they're our friends! They're our favorite writers, and artists, and even outside of fandom, there's a chance you may have interacted with them, joked with them, sent them asks, shared shit posts and memes with each other. There's a high chance you know an Iranian person on this site, and you may have even noticed that they haven't posted in a while.

Because they can't. Because they're literally being silenced right now.

And what's the point of being on this site, what's the point of befriending all of these amazing people if we aren't even going to... make an effort to see how they're actually doing? To spread awareness to the infuriating injustices they're facing right now? Bring a light to all of the horrible things this damned regime is doing to them? Especially when they are literally being forcefully prevented from doing so at this time. We can't just ignore them now, while they're being silenced by a totalitarian regime.

And tbh... I'm not sure if this will actually impact anything in the end. I don't know if this will actually help them, I don't know if spreading the word will even do anything. I'm almost afraid that it might not. But it's the least we can do. Instead of just remaining blissfully ignorant, or worse - apathetically shrugging it off and just going about our day. We should at least try... we owe it to them to at least try, if nothing else.

We owe it to the people of Iran.

We owe it to our friends.