On December 4th, the New York Times published an article stating that Iran had decided to abolish the morality police in response to the ongoing anti-government protests. After Mahsa Amini’s brutal death had taken the international news by storm, this headline was quickly picked up by the other major media platforms, such as CBS News and the Wall Street Journal, who reported the news as a positive result that nobody expected of the protests, that the regime may finally be willing to agree with the demands for reform in the country. The report was debunked a few hours later, as it was composed of false information fed to the news by Iran’s government. Yet, the information continued to circulate, spreading inaccurate news across the world, ultimately undermining the movement. 

We put a lot of faith into our news agencies to relay information on events taking place in the world; from activist movements to climate change catastrophes, from politics to the weather. We check the news because we aren’t in a position to get the information ourselves. But who can you blame? If you have no connection to a particular country or ethnic group, how are you supposed to get information from anywhere besides the internet; who’s going to tell you? So we check the news, read the latest stories, and without even knowing it, a few lines on a page has created a scarily detailed image of what we believe certain countries, and subsequently the people within them, are like. 

The truth is, bias will exist no matter what we do, pure objectivity simply does not exist. But, the amount of bias, and our intentions behind what we share, can be controlled. 

It’s a testament to the damage that Western media agencies can inflict on suffering countries when interest lies more in seeking a worthy narrative than actual fact. This story was born from an interpretation of information that did not culminate to the actual story unfolding across the world. But the misleading reporting speaks to more than a misinterpretation of information - the large issue at hand is that nobody knows what actually is going on in Iran. Most Western agencies cannot safely send journalists to Iran for on-site coverage, which forces them to rely on social media posts and Iranian media outlets for information. But, rather than recognizing the potential for false information through these outlets that the world knows is being closely monitored by the government, media outlets have chosen to run with these sensationalist headlines, accepting and reporting this information at face value. 

The news has the power to influence the world into concluding that the faults of a corrupt government must subsequently reflect the corruption of the country’s citizens. It would be the same as us believing that the faults of our federal government must translate into every Canadian possessing the same traits, beliefs, and mistakes as our politicians. But realize that in the context of Middle Eastern countries, this dangerous assumption is even more damaging. Western journalists reporting on corrupt governments get their information from government outlets - which are also corrupt. They are fed false information, with false statistics, and false claims as to what has happened. On August 3rd, 2020, a data leak revealed that Iran’s government had been hiding the number of deaths caused by the COVID-19 virus. Through an anonymous source, BBC News reported that although the government’s own records allegedly reflect 42,000 COVID-19 related deaths, there were in fact 14,405 deaths. The government stated that only 278,827 people were affected - but surprise - that was a lie too, it was 451,024. The irregularities were noticeable enough that politicians and statisticians made suggestions on what the real numbers may be, and they assumed that the inconsistencies in nationwide vs worldwide numbers must have been correlated to a lack of testing availability - but regardless nobody really spoke up about it. BBC News confirmed the rationale behind Iran’s statistical cover up: that the “the start of outbreak coincided both with the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and with parliamentary elections,” confirming that this was a prime opportunity for “the Islamic Republic to demonstrate its popular support and not risk damaging it because of the virus”

In the context of the Women, Life, Freedom movement, the truth that peaceful protestors were inhumanely murdered by corrupt police can easily be portrayed as “the police weren’t actually allowed to shoot, the only protestors that died were those who were violent first”. That’s what happens when the source of the news is the government committing those corrupt crimes that the media is seeking to report. The result: the influential western countries that have the power to help produce change start to believe a false narrative, setting everyone off course - which is exactly what the regime needs in order to survive. The important truth is, journalists should be going to the people of the country. To the people experiencing the events being reported on, not those causing it. The Western world needs to hear from informed voices who are living these experiences to tell their truths; they are tired of living in oppression. 

There are two serious problems that come with the false reporting of the corrupt morality police. First: every false piece that is put out into the world acts as a lifeline for the regime. When the government feels threatened, they try to relieve domestic and global pressures by misleading the public eye. By moving the conversation away from “human rights violations” to “possible reform”, this psychological tool allows the regime to survive by weakening the morale of protestors and turning global attention away from Iran.  

Second: the arguably larger problem is that Western governments have refused to take a definite stance against the crimes of the regime. Among the few public statements made by the Canadian government, some have been recanted - and those that stand are empty words that have led to no result. It is well known that Western countries heavily benefit from Iran’s weak economy, as it allows for cheaper trade of goods and oil. It is thus obvious that the muteness, or empty words of Western leaders is a symbol of wanting to preserve this relationship. 

We talk about EDI all the time: equity, diversity, inclusion. The topic is heavy in conversation within academic institutions and workplaces, of being equitable and inclusive to all diverse individuals. What we don’t talk about is that there is no finish line to EDI work; it shouldn’t stop with the people in our vicinity. Rather, it is about having an open mindset to think and look beyond the stories of the people that we can’t see, who aren’t in our lives, but that may be across the world needing you to raise your voices for them.