As the Iranian regime continued to crack down on citizens protesting the country's hardline Islamic government, the New York Times tweeted Monday that authorities "clamped down" because demonstrators were ignoring "calls for calm."
The tweet borrowed language from the lede of a Times piece published Monday, which the tweet linked to, headlined "Deadly Iran Protests Prompt Warning of Harsher Response."
Iranian authorities have clamped down on Tehran after demonstrators across the country ignored calls for calm https://t.co/M9G7x8lvAT
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 1, 2018
"Ignoring pleas for calm from President Hassan Rouhani, Iranian protesters took to the streets in several cities for the fifth day on Monday as pent-up economic and political frustrations boiled over in the broadest display of discontent in years," the Times reported.
The tweet was widely-shared by detractors, who pointed out that it seemed to pin blame for the hundreds of arrests and dozens of deaths on the protesters rather than government security forces.
Those pesky kids, ignoring calls for calm from their wacky, murderous regime. I’m sure Ploughshares can explain everything to them
— Toby Harshaw (@tobinharshaw) January 1, 2018
Let me rewrite this headline: "Iran's brutal dictatorship yet again killed & arrested brave Iranian citizens demanding greater freedoms." https://t.co/iq2n5ykA5f
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) January 1, 2018
Quite the framing here: "demonstrators...ignored calls for calm" https://t.co/Elhsmk9z7L
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) January 1, 2018
An early nominee for worst headline of the year https://t.co/VF1vkzwD3Q
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 1, 2018