Instagram, which is owned by Meta, is said to have restricted postings using a hashtag commemorating the victims of a Ukrainian plane shot down by Iranian security forces two years ago. Families of the 176 victims found that messages using the hashtag #IWillLightACandletoo, as well as its Persian equivalent, were not available to users, according to the BBC.
According to a cybersecurity expert, Iran appears to have engineered the ban by reporting the posts. The hashtag was "limited by mistake" by the social media behemoth. The Ukraine passenger flight was shot down by Iranian missiles shortly after taking off from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 persons on board.
Iran stated that the jet was shot down "accidentally" by its forces. Ukraine has rejected the findings of an Iranian investigation into the crash as a "cynical attempt" to conceal the truth.
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