Slate posted an article on Monday discussing this double standard and the refusal of the Iranian people to abide by it. The article points out that Iran’s culture minister has estimated that four million Iranians use Facebook in spite of the Islamic Republic’s efforts to filter it, and in spite of the punishments handed down against those accused of using it to spread propaganda or organize against national security.

Facebook emerged as a tool of political expression in the wake of the 2009 uprising in Iran, after a crackdown on bloggers led to many of them being jailed or driven from the country. These efforts only suppressed one type of media, however, and activists and ordinary Iranians shifted to Facebook instead.