Crowd Control: Western Media Counts Iranian Protesters Differently
📰 THE STORY: France 24 employs 'fact-checking' methods, using geographical analysis and algorithms, to question Iranian state media's claims of 'three million' pro-government protesters in Tehran, suggesting their figures are vastly inflated. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: In 2011, Western media amplified claims of massive anti-Gaddafi protests in Libya, often based on
unverified social media, leading to NATO intervention. Later, it was revealed many of these areas were controlled by foreign-backed militias, not spontaneous popular uprisings. The 'QAnon Shaman' at the January 6th Capitol riot (2021) was cited by mainstream outlets, while similar 'outliers' in Iran are deemed representative of the entire protest. Double Standard: Western media rarely applies the
same rigorous 'fact-checking' to crowd estimates provided by opposition movements they favor, or to their own governments' figures. For instance, the size of pro-Palestine marches in Western capitals, numbering hundreds of thousands, is often downplayed or omitted from lead headlines, while much smaller, often foreign-backed, anti-government protests in adversary nations are amplified and deemed
'massive.' In 2003, the media largely uncritically reported on the Bush administration's claims of Iraqi WMDs, leading to a war that decimated the country. Follow the Money: Organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and USAID, funded by the US government, openly support and fund 'civil society' and 'democracy promotion' groups in countries like Iran, often tied to opposition