Jonathan Greenblatt
CEO and National Director
July 27, 2022
Dear Mr. Agrawal,
I am once again reaching out regarding Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s chronic violations of Twitter’s terms of service on his accounts of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. We ask that you de-platform him for his continued use of Twitter to promote antisemitism, hate, violence and Holocaust denial.
As I wrote in January 2021 to then Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Khamenei’s accounts, which include both English and other languages, repeatedly violate Twitter’s policies, including its policy on Hateful Conduct which prohibits “targeting others with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to dehumanize, degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category.”
For your reference, here is a link to the letter detailing these violations and includes several examples from Khamenei’s accounts from over the years.
The latest example of Khamenei’s irrepressible anti-Jewish hate was posted on July 27th, where he tweeted about Jews being the secret and nefarious power behind of the U.S. and Western governments, stating: “The Western powers are a mafia. The reality of this power is a mafia. At the top of this mafia stand the prominent Zionist merchants, and the politicians obey them. The US is their showcase, and they’re spread out everywhere.”
As I’m sure you are aware, the notion that Zionists – which is a stand-in term for Jews – are a mafia that control the US and Western governments, is an antisemitic idea that is frequently peddled by the Iranian regime. The myth dates back centuries, was a key theme of the notorious antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and is used by Iran to justify their irrational hatred for Jews around the world and for the Jewish state.
Such anti-Jewish prejudice is arguably one of modern Iran’s most impactful and far-reaching exports, which is especially alarming considering the recent spike in antisemitic incidents in the U.S. and around the world. Furthermore, in recent months, Iran’s malevolent and violent behavior towards Jewish and Israeli targets has become more pronounced, including a report from June of attempts by Iranian agents to kidnap and kill Israeli tourists in Turkey. And while these efforts were thankfully foiled, Iran’s targeting of Israeli and Jewish targets represent an ever-present threat to Jewish communities worldwide.
Mr. Agrawal, I once again must implore you: apply your Terms of Service rules fairly and suspend all Twitter accounts associated with Ali Khamenei. While Twitter has an exemption for elected and government officials that enables these figures to post content that would otherwise violate the platform’s rules, this policy gives too much leeway for prominent figures to repeatedly post abusive and hateful content.
Your failure to remove Khamenei has only emboldened his vilification of Jews and Israel. He represents a serious threat to Jewish communities around the world, and his continued presence on your platform undermines the integrity and reputation of Twitter.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Greenblatt
CEO and National Director