Twenty-two-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in custody of hijab enforcement patrols
The hashtag that has been trending in support of Mahsa Amini, the young woman whose death has triggered nationwide protests in Iran, has been retweeted more than 40 million times.
The #Mahsa_Amini hashtag and its Persian version are being used by a large number of people in Iran as well as many people abroad.
The tally is about 10 times more than the trendiest hashtags on twitter, a feat achieved thanks to the cooperation of numerous celebrities and political figures as well as human rights activists and organizations.
The number of retweets could have been even higher if the Islamic Republic had not shut down internet access in many parts of the country or had not blocked most pathways people use to circumvent filtering and sign in to Twitter.
On Thursday, Hacktivist group ‘Anonymous’ took down the official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as nationwide protests were raging in the country.
The hacking group targeted many other state-run websites and services and claimed that more than 2,000 street surveillance cameras were also hacked.
While the government has cut internet access in the country, the group is also trying to raise awareness about the ways Iranian protesters can keep using the net to make their voices heard in the world, mainly through Tor, short for The Onion Router, a free and open-source software for enabling anonymous communication.
The group started its cyber operations against the Islamic Republic in solidarity with the ongoing protests over the death of Mahsa Amini who died following repeated blows to the head reportedly by hijab enforcement police.
If the Iranian government blocks the people from accessing the internet, Anonymous will block access to the government, the group said.