Berkeley Lecture Series Presents:
A talk by Iraj Mesdaghi, Researcher
Topic: “Iranian Fake News & the Role of Security Apparatus”
“The world of cyberspace is a new challenge for everyone. Although the Iranian opposition and political groups use it to raise awareness and organize people, at the same time the Islamic regime has not been idle either. Through the creation of telegram channels, use of political figures and many other cyber venues they encourage and advance their desired goals. The amount of fraudulent information they have put out has astonishingly expanded over the past two years. Moreover, they attempt to distort and destroy the collective memory of the people, by forging the prison memoires, and even the information on victims and their families. The talk will focus on these, and cite specific examples.
Iraj Mesdaghi began his political life in the United States with the Confederation of Iranian Students and returned to Iran during the 1979 revolution. In 1981, he was arrested because of his activities with the People’s Mojahedeen of Iran and spent the next decade in prison. He fled to Sweden in 1994 where he resumed his political activities. Mesdaghi has written various books and articles on 1988 mass executions of political prisoners in Iran, including the 4 volume book “Neither life Nor Death” about his 10 year experience in prisons, and ”Hell On Earth” investigating the ideological roots of torture in the Islamic Republic. He is currently an independent activist and researcher working on human rights, workers’ rights and prison issues.
Lecture in Persian