Watchdog

Iran's Guidance Ministry has told advertising agencies that under the government's tightening of the so-called hijab and chastity law, women are now prohibited from appearing in advertisements.

The ministry sent a letter to agencies over the weekend following the release of a promotional video by the Domino ice-cream company that featured an actress wearing a sweater donning additional layers of clothing while images of ice cream flash across the screen.

At the end of the ad, she is wearing a winter coat and hat and takes a bite of the ice cream.

A government agency subsequently called the ad "a crime" and condemned the use of an actress saying such ads lead to the "promotion of immorality" in the society.

The move comes as authorities increasingly crack down on women deemed to be in violation of a law making it mandatory to wear a hijab in public.

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The Farda Briefing: Iranian Women Defiant Against Hijab Policing

A July 5 order by President Ebrahim Raisi to enforce the hijab law has resulted in a new list of restrictions on how women can dress. The country's notorious Guidance Patrols, or morality police, have become increasingly active and violent in enforcing the law, with videos emerging on social media showing officers detaining women, forcing them into vans, and whisking them away.

Since Raisi's order, women judged not to be in compliance have been told they will be barred from government offices, banks, and public transportation.

In response, activists have launched a social media campaign under the hashtag #no2hijab to urge people to boycott companies enforcing the tougher restrictions.

On July 12, women's rights activists posted videos of themselves publicly removing their veils to coincide with the government’s National Day of Hijab and Chastity.

The hijab first became compulsory in public for Iranian women and girls over the age of 9 after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Many Iranian women have flouted the rule over the years in protest and pushed the boundaries of what officials say is acceptable clothing.

With reporting by Ardeshir Tayebi

A teacher in Russia's Siberia region has been fined for "discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation" because he reacted to some anti-war social media posts with emojis.

Aleksei Argunov told North.Realities of RFE/RL's Russian Service on July 25 that he was fined 30,000 rubles ($520) for using a sad emoji in the comments section of a social media post on the conviction of a politician who wrote that it “hurt him to watch Russian people kill Ukrainians, and Ukrainians forced to kill Russians.”

Argunov said that the charges also included an emoji he left on a video published on YouTube in March by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger that urges Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the invasion of Ukraine. He left an emoji in the comments section that indicated his approval of Schwarzenegger's comments.

"The police themselves understood that it was stupid" to write up the charges, said Argunov, a philosophy and history teacher in the city of Barnaul, about 200 kilometers south of Novosibirsk.

Two days later, a court found him guilty in what appears to be the first conviction of someone for leaving an emoji in the comments section of a post by someone else.

Since launching his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Putin has clamped down hard on any dissent against the war.

In March, he signed bills into law that effectively criminalize any criticism of the war or actions of Russian soldiers. Russian citizens now face up to 10 years in prison for distributing "false news" about military operations and up to 15 years for “discrediting” the nation’s armed forces.

Since the laws were approved, several Russians -- including some elected officials -- have been found guilty of posting anti-war items on social media.