Update: Toomaj Salehi has reportedly been arrested by the Iranian regime. CBC News has not independently verified the reports.
As one of Iran’s most popular rappers, Toomaj Salehi has been in hiding since protests against the clerical establishment erupted last month, leveraging a network of supporters and technical tools to circumvent internet censorship and distribute his dissident music.
With hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter and equally high YouTube views, he has used his lyrics to openly criticize the regime, channeling a collective social anger over the way Iran has been ruled since the 1979 Revolution.
Protests erupted in September, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini,
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