The Iranian judiciary has given the administration one month to block mobile social networking sites such as Whatapp, Viber and Tango.
Mizan, the judiciary’s news agency, reported on Saturday September 20 that the chief deputy of the judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, has warned that “the technical grounds for effective blocking of social networking sites that contain criminal content” must be in place within one month or else the judiciary will take immediate steps to “confront whoever has disobeyed judicial orders.”
Ejei expressed disappointment that the government has not already restricted these sites.
He listed several reasons for the order to block these mobile phone sites: “the widespread publishing of criminal content; various actions against public decency, Islamic morality and public security; the widespread publishing of offensive content about Imam Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Revolution; and the administration of these networking sites by enemy countries.”
The Rohani administration has not yet reacted to the judiciary’s demand, but President Hassan Rohani has already expressed opposition to blocking mobile phone social networking sites such as Whatsapp.
