Old protest video misrepresented as Iranians rejoicing at 'elimination of hijab law'
- Published on January 22, 2026 at 10:04
- 3 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
As people poured onto the streets in mass protests in Iran, a video of a woman dancing and throwing her headscarf on a bonfire was shared in posts falsely claiming it showed people celebrating the end of the hijab mandate in the Islamic republic. While analysts and activists say authorities have slackened off on imposing the mandatory hijab in daily life, Iran has not abandoned the requirement. The footage was in fact recorded in 2022 during an earlier protest following the death of a woman who died in police custody after being arrested for not wearing the hijab properly.
"Oh God, it's okay to take it off, but please don't burn it -- hopefully, those of you who wear the hijab can still protect it," reads part of the Indonesian-language caption of a video shared on Instagram on January 11, 2026.
"Iran has ended the legal obligation to wear the hijab! Women are celebrating in the streets, burning hijabs as a form of joy."
The video, which has been watched more than 1,000 times, shows a woman in a white shirt twirling near a bonfire before she tosses a piece of cloth into the fire. Other women then also throw what appears to be hijabs into the bonfire as a crowd of onlookers applaud.
English-language text on the video says: "BIG BREAKING: Iran has ended the legal compulsion of wearing the hijab! Women are celebrating on the streets, burning hijabs in joy."
The same footage was also shared in similar Instagram, Facebook and TikTok posts.
It circulated as nationwide demonstrations in Iran that started in late December to denounce the rising cost of living evolved into a movement against the theocratic regime that has ruled the country since the 1979 revolution, with people pouring into the streets in mass protests for several days from January 8 (archived link).
Iranian authorities said on January 21 that 3,117 people were killed during the protests; activists said the actual toll risked being many times higher due to a crackdown that suppressed the demonstrations
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO warned that if the same pattern of Iran's underreporting of executions is applied here "the actual number of people killed could be in the range of 25,000".
The video circulating online, however, does not show people celebrating an end to the country's requirement for women to wear the hijab in public.
Prior to the recent mass protests, analysts and activists said authorities had slackened off on imposing the mandatory hijab in daily life, but are far from abandoning an ideological pillar of the Islamic republic, warning a new wave of repression to re-impose it could come at any time (archived link).
There have also been no official reports about the requirement being abandoned.
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video found the video was used in a report by Voice of America posted on YouTube on September 23, 2022 (archived link).
"A woman throws her hijab into a fire on a street in Sari, Iran. Protests have swelled over the death of a young woman arrested by morality police tasked with enforcing a strict dress code for women," reads the video's description.
It refers to protests that broke out in the Islamic republic following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who died in police custody after being arrested by Iran's morality police for not wearing the hijab properly (archived link).
The video is credited to "Anonymous/AFP".
AFP sourced and authenticated the video, which was posted online on September 20, 2022.
AFP has debunked other false claims stemming from the protests in Iran.
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