Mark Zuckerberg Summoned To Iranian Court Due To Privacy Issues With Whatsapp And Instagram

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, has been summoned to Iran by a judge to appear in court to answer complaints by individual citizens who say Facebook-owned apps such as Instagram and Whatsapp violate their privacy, according to news agency ISNA (via Politico). The news report quoted Ruhollah Momen Nasab who is an official with the paramilitary Basij force, as saying that the judge also ordered the two apps blocked in the country.

"According to the court's ruling, the Zionist director of the company of Facebook, or his official attorney must appear in court to defend himself and pay for possible losses," said Ruhollah Momen-Nasab according to state news agency ISNA, referring to Zuckerberg's Jewish background. However, that is highly unlikely seeing that Iranian courts have in recent years issued similar rulings that could not be carried out. Furthermore it is also unlikely that Zuckerberg will actually appear in court since there is no extradition treaty between Iran and the U.S. Last week a different Iranian court ruled to have Instagram blocked but later that afternoon the service was still accessible in the capital Tehran.

In Iran social networking sites like Facebook is already banned and others like Twitter and YouTube as well. However, some Foreign Ministers like Mohammad Javad Zarif are active users on Twitter. It is not surprising seeing how top officials have unfettered access to social media apps and site while Iran's youth use proxy servers or other workarounds to bypass the controls. President Hassan Rouhani has expressed his concerns over blocking such social networking sites and apps until a local alternative is found. Social media has offered a new way for Rouhani and his administration to reach out to the West as it negotiates with world powers over the country's nuclear program.