Shafaq News/ Iranian authorities in Isfahan province have blocked access to 35 Instagram accounts, accusing them of promoting "Western culture" and spreading "inappropriate content," local police said on Monday.

Mustafa Mortazavi, head of the Isfahan Cyber Police, said the accounts were targeted for posting and uploading "vulgar images and advertisements" deemed to violate Islamic social norms.

"The administrators of these pages have been referred to the judiciary," Mortazavi was quoted as saying. "All activities that violate social norms in cyberspace are under the control of the police."

The move comes amid a broader crackdown on online content deemed to contravene Islamic values in Iran. In May, the head of Iran's Cyber Police announced a plan to address "moral crimes" that conflict with the country's social and cultural norms online.

Pages blocked by the cyber-police display a message that says the page was shut down in accordance with a judicial order for publishing criminal content.

On January 20, chief of the cyber-police of Semnan Province announced that the admins of an Instagram page and a WhatsApp group were arrested for "insulting" the late commander of Iran's elite Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, and urging their followers to boycott elections.

In February 2023, late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his country will continue to restrict access to Instagram and WhatsApp.

Instagram and WhatsApp, which are both owned by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, were the "origin of the insecurity... during the recent riots" in Iran, said Raisi amid nationwide protests in the aftermath of Mahsa Amini's death.

Instagram and WhatsApp were the most used applications since Youtube, Facebook, Telegram, Twitter, and Tiktok platforms were blocked in recent years. Even before the protests, internet access in Iran was heavily restricted. Many Iranians use VPNs to access those websites, though new restrictions have made it increasingly difficult to use the tools.