Several pro-government social media activists in Iran issued public apologies after a new transparency feature on X revealed that their accounts had been granted unrestricted internet access, a privilege reserved for only a select few by the authorities.
The accounts of several journalists and activists - on both reformist and conservative camps - were exposed by the feature, triggering widespread backlash from ordinary Iranian internet users who struggle daily to access the web. The controversy quickly spread under the hashtags #LocationGate and #Whitelisted_Line”.
“I swear on my honor that I will never again be active on any social network without a VPN,” right-wing social media activist Amir Tanha wrote on Monday. “To all friends who became upset or disappointed with me: I give my word of honor that, as always, I will stand with the people."
“I request the relevant authorities to immediately restore my line back to the same state as the rest of the people of Iran,” he posted on X. “Please forgive me.”
Right-leaning journalist Behnam Abdollahi issued a similar apology, relinquishing his privileged access.
“Without any further explanation, I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart to all my dear compatriots and ask for your forgiveness,” Abdollahi posted on X.
“I request the relevant authorities to return my line to normal status. I give my word of honor that as a journalist I will never use any special privileges and will remain with the people. May God grant us all a good end," he added.
The apologies sparked thousands of replies, many mocking them as insincere.
“The ‘whitelisted SIM card’ is not the issue,” wrote user Hatef Salehi. “What sparked public outrage was the double standards of those posing as standing by the people.”
Fayyaz Zahed who until recently was a member of President Masoud Pezeshkian’s Information Council, posted an apology in the same tone.
“Now that I’ve seen how upsetting this is for people, I’ve asked my friends – since I’m no longer in the government – to make my line normal. I hope filtering is lifted.”
‘Orwellian discrimination’
Tehran-based whistleblower and journalist Yashar Soltani compared the privileged access to behavior of some characters in George Orwell's Animals Farm.
“Seeing the ‘whitelisted internet’ of officials – especially the hardliners who oppose free internet – reminded me of the pigs in Animal Farm. They enter through the main gate while people must climb over the wall," Soltani posted on X.
Freedom, when rationed, is no longer freedom; it is structural discrimination. White internet for 90 million Iranians!" he added.
Iran’s “White Line” or “white SIM cards” provide privileged, unfiltered internet access to select elites, officials and government loyalists, bypassing national censorship, according to journalists who enjoyed the privilege.
X (formerly Twitter) has been officially blocked for ordinary users in Iran since 2009, though many senior officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, maintain active accounts.
In July 2025, Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace approved tiered internet regulations, officially to empower “digital businesses,” but critics denounce the system as “digital apartheid” that rewards loyalty and deepens inequality.
The intensity of the reaction reflects a deeper public grievance with longstanding filtering policies.
In comments sent to Iran International, residents described daily life under heavy haze in blunt, personal terms.
A resident of Urmia in northwest Iran said schools in Urmia and nearby Salmas were closed for two days because of dirty air. “They made us homebound and depressed,” the person wrote.
An Iran–Iraq war veteran with pulmonary injuries from Karaj said he had no choice but to keep working despite the smog. “Pollution is poison for me,” he wrote, “but if you miss one day of work, you fall behind for ten days.”
In Tehran, another resident said the air felt unbreathable. “They’ve turned Tehran into a gas chamber. You can’t catch your breath.”
Several other people echoed the same theme. “Breathing has become difficult,” one wrote, while another said, “There is a gray fog every morning. It feels like something is weighing on my chest.”
Parents and people with existing illnesses said they were hit hardest. One mother wrote: “My 17-year-old daughter has shortness of breath because of the pollution, and the doctor prescribed a spray.”
A marketing worker who said they have a lung condition wrote: “I have a lung problem and I can’t even speak up. Talking leaves me breathless.”
Another person reported persistent symptoms. “Long headaches and breathing trouble,” the message said, while another wrote: “My eyes burn so badly I can’t keep them open.”
People blame industrial pollutants
Many users blamed a mix of vehicle emissions, industrial smoke and heavy fuel burning.
One message cited “non-standard gasoline, high-consumption cars, and mazut and diesel used for power plants and factories,” saying they produce “thousands of tons of toxic pollutants every day.”
A resident of Zanjan province, a smaller industrial area, alleged that nearby metal workshops release smoke at night. “The smoke looks like thick mist,” the person wrote, warning that the health damage “will show itself later.”
Another contributor said the problem had spread beyond big cities: “Pollution has reached a stage where even small towns and villages are not spared.”
Psychological toll
Alongside physical complaints, the comments conveyed mounting psychological strain.
“People’s moods are tense and abnormal, and it is affecting work and daily life,” one person wrote.
Another said, “We’re terrified of getting sick and not being able to afford treatment.”
Several linked the crisis to rising medical costs with one Tehran resident saying the pollution had triggered asthma-like allergies and that a prescription now costs millions of rials.
While some submissions used strongly political language, the core grievance was consistent: residents said they feel unprotected against a recurring hazard that closures and short-term restrictions have not solved.
The platform’s transparency panels now show the cluster accessing X through Iran’s App Store while routing traffic via VPN servers in the Netherlands, UKDJ reported on Sunday.
The outlet said it had tracked a sample of the accounts for months, citing synchronized posting patterns, near-identical creation timelines and AI-generated profile images.
The accounts, analysts said, mimicked Scottish independence supporters but repeatedly boosted pro-Iran narratives.
All accounts tracked by UKDJ also went offline during Iran’s nationwide internet blackout in June, a synchronized silence that had previously been circumstantial but now aligns with the confirmed Iranian connection.
“The initial UKDJ investigation focused on a handful of accounts that appeared at first glance to be ordinary pro-independence users… and all of those under close observation fell silent at the exact moment Iran suffered a nationwide blackout in June,” the UK Defense Journal said.
The new data “provides the proof that was previously unavailable,” the report said, noting that creation dates, username changes and regimented posting rhythms matched across the cluster.
Coordinated inauthentic behavior
UKDJ said the accounts boosted one another within seconds and repeated the same slogans, creating a manufactured impression of a large grassroots movement.
It added that after connectivity in Iran was restored, many briefly resurfaced with pro-Iran or anti-Western messages before switching back to Scottish independence content.
The report said that the findings do not call Scotland’s genuine independence movement into question, but instead illustrate how fabricated personas can skew perceptions of public sentiment.
The findings show “Iran, as well as countries such as Russia and our other enemies, are actively seeking to subvert our democracy and discourse,” Scottish MP Graeme Downie told UKDJ.
Connection to Iran-focused concerns
The revelations emerged as Iranian users vented anger over X’s new location display, which has put a spotlight on tiered internet access and privileged “white SIM cards.”
Journalist Hossein Bastani said the change also exposed pro-government Iranian personas posing as foreign supporters, including an account named “Jessica” that presented itself as a Scottish activist before appearing to post from inside Iran.
UKDJ’s findings mirror similar cases involving Gaza-advocacy personas after X’s transparency data showed several accounts saying to be based in Gaza were in fact operating from Pakistan, London and other locations.
Like the Scottish-themed cluster, those accounts relied on localized imagery and political language until the location tags revealed their origins. Israel’s Persian-language foreign ministry account later branded one such operator a “deceiver.”
Wider pattern of foreign influence
UKDJ said Iranian information operations have repeatedly latched onto divisive political debates in Western democracies, making Scotland’s constitutional question “a suitable channel” for influence activity.
The report has also renewed calls for political actors to vet online material more carefully.
Downie urged parties to be “much more alive to this threat” and to push back against misinformation, including when it is “shared by their own elected officials.”
