Factz

BBC VIDEO: ‘Join Us and Rise Up’: Hackers Take Over Iran’s State-Run TV

The last thing citizens of Iran expect when watching the humdrum propaganda of the state-run television channel is anything interesting.

But on Saturday, hackers took over the TV feed. The hackers shared messages supportive of protests which arose in the wake of the state-sanctioned police custody murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, killed for violating a strict religious dress code.

They displayed images that include Iran’s supreme leader with a target on his head, photos of Amini, and three other women killed recently in protests.

Captions read, “join us and rise up,” as well as “our youths’ blood is dripping off your paws.”

After only a few seconds of interruption, the hackers’ feed was cut off.

It’s not common to see public displays of disdain and rebellion against Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Still, they’re happening more and more as young-and-women-led protests continue to rage across the country, like in the Hunger Games.

Rights advocacy groups estimate that those killed in protests may be nearing 200.