Jalali made the remarks Monday in a ceremony held to commemorate martyrs of Mersad operation; an operation in which MKO suffered a heavy defeat by Iranian forces at the end of the 8-year-long imposed war on Iran.

“Many of the comments [on social media] which are full of hatred, offense, and mockery is posted by fake accounts of this group,” he highlighted.

“They are trying to negatively affect the public opinion in Iran and cause disappointment among Iranians and induce inefficiency of the Islamic Republic,” the commander added.

Leaked images showed that the US-backed Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terror group have launched social media campaigns against the Islamic Republic. Iran’s Khorasan newspaper in early July, revealed for the first time part of the organization’s secretive social media influence campaign targeting Farsi, English and Arabic-speaking users on social media, PressTV reported.

Members are “briefed at the start of their workday and start their social media operations at noon. At the end of the day, feedback is reviewed and issues that have to be used to defame the Islamic Republic are examined for the next day,” read the paper.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community. Its members fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, where it enjoyed backing of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The MKO has been banned in Iran and around the world for its role in numerous terrorist activities, especially in the early years after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, taking the lives of thousands of Iranians, along with foreign nationals.

Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist attacks since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, about 12,000 have fallen victim to MKO’s acts of terror.

Removing a decade-long ban on the MKO, the United States and its allies, however, have sought to use the group as a tool to pressure Iran over the past years.

The post Foreign social media, new den of MKO terrorists: cmdr. appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The research, published by the American Psychological Association, found sharp increases in the number of young adults and adolescents who reported experiencing negative psychological symptoms — specifically in those born in 1995 or later, known as iGen. Coincidentally, the greatest spike in symptoms occurred in 2011, around the same time social media bursts onto the scene, NBC News reported.

No corresponding increase was observed in older adults.

“We found a substantial increase in major depression or suicidal thoughts, psychological distress, and more attempted suicides after 2010, versus the mid-2000s, and that increase was by far the largest in adolescents and young adults,” said lead author Jean Twenge, author of the book “iGen” and professor of psychology at San Diego State University. “These trends are weak or non-existent among adults 26 years and over, suggesting a generational shift in mood disorders instead of an overall increase across all ages.”

Twenge and her team analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a nationally representative survey that has looked at drug and alcohol use, mental health, and other health-related issues in U.S. individuals age 12 and over since 1971. They looked at survey responses from more than 200,000 adolescents age 12 to 17 from 2005 to 2017, and almost 400,000 adults age 18 and over from 2008 to 2017.

The questionnaire did not ask participants if they were diagnosed with depression or another mental condition, but instead asked individuals if they had experienced depressive symptoms in the past year. The rate of individuals reporting symptoms consistent with major depression in the last 12 months increased 52 percent in adolescents from 2005 to 2017 and 63 percent in young adults age 18 to 25 from 2009 to 2017, the researchers found. There was also a 71 percent increase in young adults experiencing serious psychological distress in the previous 30 days from 2008 to 2017.

And the rate of young adults with suicidal thoughts or other suicide-related outcomes increased a staggering 47 percent from 2008 to 2017.

One reason for the increase may be that digital media use has had a bigger impact on teens and young adults than older adults who tend to have more stable social lives.

“Cultural trends in the last 10 years may have had a larger effect on mood disorders and suicide-related outcomes among younger generations compared with older generations,” said Twenge.

These results, which are unlikely to be due to genetics or economic woes, suggest that more research is needed to understand how digital communication versus face-to-face social interaction influences mood disorders and suicide-related outcomes, she added.

Recent studies have shown that more social media use is associated with increased reported symptoms of social anxiety, social isolation, and feelings of loneliness.

Aaron Fobian, clinical psychologist and assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, cautions against confusing the association of social media use and mental health conditions with cause and effect.

“We can’t say for certain that the rise we’re seeing is the direct result of social media use,” Fobian told NBC News. “For example, teens could have depressive or anxious symptoms and therefore spend more time on social media outlets to look for a way to connect.”

SLEEPIEST GENERATION?

The new survey also found that young people are not sleeping as much as previous generations, which may also play a role in the rise of mental health issues. Sleep deprivation affects mood and is associated with anxiety and depression, research shows.

“Teenagers definitely use social media in a way that affects their sleep,” said Fobian. “They are exposed to light right before bed and that light exposure alone delays their sleep by 30 minutes. It also affects their social interactions with others.”

Twenge and Fobian urge parents to limit overall social media use and encourage their children to engage in social activities.

“It’s important to think more mindfully about how we use our amusement time. That means getting more sleep and spending less time with digital media,” said Twenge.

Twenge encourages parents to uphold a “no phones in the bedroom” rule by setting up charging stations outside the bedroom. And parents should set the example by not only participating in the policy, but also discontinuing their phone use within one hour of bedtime, Fobian said.

“How lack of sleep and overall screen time affects one’s mental health is a real thing,” Fobian said. “And it’s not just screen time, but it’s also what screen time has replaced. That matters because spending time with people face to face is a big protective factor against depression.”

“We sometimes assume that communicating electronically is as good, but it’s not,” Fobian concluded.

The results of the study are published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

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Secretary of Criminal Content Definition Task Force said that the order for filtering Instagram social network in Iran has been issued by the Judiciary Branch.

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