Old protest video misrepresented as Iranians rejoicing at ‘elimination of hijab law’

As people rushed to On the streets during mass protests in Iran, a video of a woman dancing and throwing her headscarf onto 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 eased their imposition of compulsory hijab wearing in daily life, Iran has not abandoned the requirement. The footage was actually recorded in 2022 during a previous protest following the death of a woman who died in police custody after being arrested for not wearing a hijab properly.

“Oh my God, it’s okay to take it off, but please don’t burn it. I hope those of you who wear hijab can still protect it,” read the Indonesian-language caption of a video shared on Instagram on January 11, 2026.

“Iran has ended the legal requirement to wear hijab! Women are celebrating in the streets, burning hijabs in joy.”

The video, which has been viewed more than 1,000 times, shows a woman in a white shirt twirling near a bonfire before throwing a piece of cloth into the fire. Other women then throw what appear to be hijabs into the bonfire to the applause of a crowd of onlookers.

The English text of the video reads: “BIG BREAKING: Iran has ended the legal requirement to wear hijab! Women party in the streets, burning hijabs with joy. »

Screenshot of the fake post captured on January 22, 2026, with a red X added by AFP

The same images were also shared in similar posts on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

It circulated as nationwide protests in Iran that began in late December to denounce the rising cost of living transformed into a movement against the theocratic regime that has ruled the country since the 1979 revolution, with massive demonstrations in the streets lasting several days starting January 8 (archived link).

Iranian authorities said on January 21 that 3,117 people had been killed during the protests; activists said the actual toll was likely to be several times higher due to the crackdown that suppressed protests

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norwegian-based Iranian human rights NGO, warned that if the same pattern of under-reporting of executions by Iran were applied here, “the real number of people killed could be in the order of 25,000.”

The video circulating online, however, does not show people celebrating the end of the requirement for women to wear the hijab in public.

Before the recent mass protests, analysts and activists said authorities had slowed the imposition of the compulsory hijab on daily life, but were far from abandoning an ideological pillar of the Islamic republic, warning that a new wave of repression aimed at reimposing it could come at any time (archived link).

There have also been no official reports that this requirement has been dropped.

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video revealed that the video was used in a Voice of America report published on YouTube on September 23, 2022 (archived link).

“A woman throws her hijab into a street fire in Sari, Iran. Protests have swelled following the death of a young woman arrested by morality police charged with enforcing a strict dress code for women,” reads the video’s description.

It refers to protests that erupted in the Islamic Republic following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died in police custody after being arrested by Iranian morality police for not wearing the hijab properly (archived link).

The video is credited to “Anonymous/AFP”.

AFP spotted and authenticated the video, posted online on September 20, 2022.

The AFP has denied other false claims arising from the protests in Iran.