FARAJA intelligence sends threatening text messages to citizens over online activity

A number of Iranian citizens have reported receiving text messages, sent from a number belonging to the Intelligence Organisation of the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic (FARAJA), warning them that their activity on social media is being monitored. According to reports from the public that reached independent Persian-language media on Monday 19 October 2026, the messages promise "violators" legal action.

One of these messages, the text of which citizens have relayed, cites several articles of the Islamic Penal Code and says that the recipient's "endorsement" and "reposting" of what the message calls "criminal content" is under review. It is still unclear how many citizens, and in which cities, the messages were sent to, and FARAJA has given no explanation about them.

Threats by text message, a new tool of censorship

Sending threatening text messages is a method the security bodies of the Islamic Republic used before to frighten women over enforcement of compulsory hijab and to warn participants in protests. This time the targets are users who liked or reposted something on social media; an act that under the Islamic Republic's laws becomes a crime through labels such as "criminal content".

The messages are being sent at a time when pressure on freedom of expression has intensified after the January uprising and during the war. A few days ago the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Science cut off cooperation with Farzad Kalbali, a University of Tehran lecturer, over "subversive" content on social media, and universities have also stepped up pressure on students.

Monitoring of social networks and internet restrictions

For years, citizens of Iran have faced extensive filtering, slowdowns and internet shutdowns, and to reach independent media and social networks they are forced to use circumvention tools. Directly threatening users over a single like or repost is a new step in censorship, whose aim is to silence critical voices in cyberspace, the only space left for free conversation.

FARAJA's intelligence organisation has used text messages to threaten citizens with judicial action over likes and reposts on social media.