This controversial Instagram account was deleted. Here's why.

It’s the truth universally acknowledged that kids who start social media accounts to showcase their wealth probably have more money than sense.

First came the Rich Kids of Instagram: a narcassitic account which showcased some of America’s most privileged.

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Ah, the 1%.

Then came a TV show, naturally. The Rich Kids of Beverley Hills was both grotesque and captivating.

And now? Well, the Middle East has jumped on board. Iran to be precise.

At the beginning of September a ‘Rich kids of Tehran’ Instagram was created.

It depicted wealthy Iranians driving around in extremely expensive cars, wearing expensive clothes and drinking, yep you guessed it, extremely expensive champagne.

And it raised some serious eyebrows. The page also shows scantily-clad women drinking and not wearing hijabs — something that could be considered a crime in Iran.

The ‘Rich Kids of Tehran’ account received over 98,000 likes in a month. We grabbed some of the pics before the account was deleted  – feast your eyes on theses excesses (everyone needs a diamond-encrusted steering wheel):

It appears from these images that the rich and powerful in Tehran have suffered little under the strict international sanctions that have been imposed on Iran, which are deeply impacting the country’s poorest. These rich kids are a far cry from what most Iranians know as reality.

So much so that a #PoorkidsofTehran Instagram was created in response:

The grotesque amount of wealth showcased on these social media accounts was so controversial it was abruptly deleted:

#RichKidsOfTehran Instagram Page and Facebook has been shut down due to false publicity. — #RichKidsOfTehran (@richkidsofteh) October 9, 2014

Mashable is reporting that the Iranian government has blocked the site, relying on reports from several Twitter users and a news website tied to Iranian conservatives and hardliners.

There has been some concern that the rich kids in the images might be putting themselves at risk in light of the arrest and sentencing of young Iranians who made a video of themselves dancing to Pharell Williams’ song “Happy”. But as one Iranian woman told The Times, these kids are children of Tehran’s elite and are unlikely to be punished: “If they get in trouble, it will disappear.”

Instagram is one of the few Western social media networks still available in Iran. Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have long been blocked — although many wiley Iranians use various tech tools to circumvent the censorship.

 Here is the clip of “Happy” that lead to the arrest of its Iranian performers.

 

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