Paul Davison
Co-Founder & CEO
Clubhouse
Dear Mr. Davison,
On March 31, 2021 the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, participated in a Clubhouse room entitled “Unsaid: The Memorandum Between Iran and China, In Conversation with the Foreign Ministry Spokesman” with Saeed Khatibzadeh, the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman.
Then on April 1st, 2021 a 54:40 minute recording of the Clubhouse conversation was posted on the website of IRNA, the Islamic Republic News Agency, the Islamic Republic’s official news outlet controlled by Mr. Zarif’s government, specifically, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
This is a violation of Clubhouse’s clearly-defined rule: “You may not transcribe, record, or otherwise reproduce and/or share information obtained in Clubhouse without prior permission.” Though it is not clear whether Mr. Zarif himself recorded the conversation, including the voices of other speakers, as a representative of his government which perpetrated this violation of Clubhouse rules, he should be subject to Clubhouse’s consequence which you indicate include “can also result in removal from the Service.”
On behalf of Iranian-Americans and human rights dissidents whose rights to privacy were violated and who are threatened every day by Mr. Zarif’s regime, we urge you to address this flagrant violation of Clubhouse rules. If left unaddressed, this violation represents a dangerous precedent for dictators and their surrogates everywhere.
We appreciate your attention and look forward to action being taken to address this.
Thank you,
Cameron Khansarinia
Policy Director
National Union for Democracy in Iran