A viral infographic that claimed the government of Iran has sentenced 15,000 protesters to death was uncritically reposted and signal-boosted by several top left-leaning celebrities on Monday, including actresses Viola Davis and Sophie Turner — and perhaps most disturbingly, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who responded to the disinformation with an official condemnation as the Canadian head of government.
The Iranian government may very well be capable of sentencing large amounts of protesters to death, but as a matter of fact, it has not yet done so. Only two confirmed death sentences have been handed down in connection with the wave of protests gripping Iran and neither has been carried out yet.
Other protesters have been charged with offenses that often carry the death penalty in Iran, such as “being an enemy of God,” but death sentences have not been imposed…
