Youths in ‘Happy’ Video Find Iran’s Grip on Internet Is Still Tight

Six young Iranians who were arrested for posting a YouTube video of themselves dancing on Tehran rooftops to “Happy,” the globally infectious pop song, were released on bail as new details emerged of their possible mistreatment while incarcerated amid an outpouring of sympathy -- including a subtly supportive Twitter post from Iran’s president.

The arrests of the six, who were all under 25 and included women not wearing their mandatory headscarves, were carried out over the weekend. They were taken into custody just as the president, Hassan Rouhani, was giving a speech arguing that Iranians should embrace the Internet instead of viewing it as an insidious Western threat to Islamic morals. The six were shown on state television a day before their release, backs to the camera, apologizing for having made the video, which was uploaded on YouTube in April and received more than 165,000 hits. The television broadcast also included an admonition from Tehran’s police chief, Hossein Sajedi, who told all young Iranians never to make such videos.