--- title: "Iran Apparently Using Facial Recognition to Catch Women Breaking Hijab Law" description: "The Iranian state is likely using facial recognition as a tool of tracking down and penalizing the women for rejecting the state's hijab law." date: "2023-01-12" modified: "2023-01-12" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/iran-facial-recognition-hijab-law" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Facial recognition" - "Future Society" tags: - "facial recognition" - "protests" - "surveillance" - "the digest" --- # Iran Apparently Using Facial Recognition to Catch Women Breaking Hijab Law ![The Iranian state is likely using facial recognition as a tool of tracking down and penalizing the women for rejecting the state's hijab law.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Very Grim The authoritarian state of Iran has been [embroiled in mass citizen protests]() for months now, kicked off by the Iranian state morality police's alleged murder of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman named Mahsa Amini, who died in custody after being arrested for allegedly failing to wear her state-mandated hijab properly. Amini's brutal death sparked widespread outrage among Iranian citizens, who immediately took to the streets — a very uncommon sight in the exceedingly dissent-unfriendly nation — and have continued to protest in the months since. Throughout the protests, the hijab has unsurprisingly emerged as as symbol of rebellion. In ever-growing numbers, Iranian women are refusing to comply with hijab law, in some cases even [burning the headpieces](). But now, in a deeply troubling turn, [*Wired* reports]() that the Iranian state is likely using facial recognition as a tool of tracking down and penalizing the women for rejecting the state mandate — which, as Amini's horrifying fate makes clear, may have violent consequences for those that the state considers offenders. "Many people haven't been arrested in the streets," Shaparak Shajarizadeh, an Iranian activist who fled the country in 2018, told *Wired*, pointing to a concerning pattern that seemingly supports state use of facial recognition. "They were arrested at their homes one or two days later." ## Surveillance State History Sadly, this wouldn't be the first time that Iranian authorities have used facial recognition to monitor hijab compliance. Back in 2020, it was revealed that [Iranian traffic authorities]() were using the software to surveil women while driving, sending citations via creepy SMS messages should they be discovered as hijab offenders. And last year, Mousa Ghazanfarabadi, head of Iran's parliamentary legal and judicial committee, [defended]() the use of "face recording cameras" to state media, claiming that their use against hijab offenders would eradicate "clashes between the police and citizens." And if that's not enough: in September 2022, the head of an Iranian agency that supports the implementation of morality law [said that facial recognition]() would be used to "identify inappropriate and unusual movements," such as the "failure to observe hijab laws," according to *Wired.* Amini was killed just two weeks later. Though Iran has a history with surveillance tech, as *Wired* notes, this would be the first recorded instance of a state using such software to enforce religious dress codes — a grim reality, and one bound to result in more violence. **READ MORE:** *[Iran Says Face Recognition Will ID Women Breaking Hijab Laws]()* \[*Wired*\] **More on Iranian protests:** *[Anonymous Hacks Iran after Woman Allegedly Killed by "Morality Police"]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()