Facebook CEO summoned to court in Iran

A judge in southern Iran has ordered Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to appear court to answer complaints by individuals who say Facebook-owned applications Instagram and Whatsapp violate their privacy.

The semi-official news agency ISNA quoted Ruhollah Momen Nasab, an official with the paramilitary Basij force, as saying the judge also ordered the two apps blocked. It is highly unlikely Zuckerberg would appear in an Iranian court since there is no extradition treaty between Iran and the US.

Another Iranian court last week had ordered Instagram blocked over privacy concerns. However, users in the capital, Tehran, still could access both applications yesterday.

Facebook is already banned in the country, along with other social websites like Twitter and YouTube. However some senior leaders like foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are active on Twitter.

Iran’s youth and technological-savvy citizens use proxy servers or other workarounds to bypass the controls.

The administration of moderate President Hassan Rouhani is opposed to blocking such websites before authorities create local alternatives. Social media has offered a new way for him and his administration to reach out to the West as it negotiates over the country’s contested nuclear programme.

“We should see the cyber world as an opportunity,” Rouhani said last week. “Why are we so shaky? Why don’t we trust our youth?”

Hardliners accuse Rouhani of failing to stop the spread of what they deem as “decadent” Western culture in Iran.