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The Washington Post – By Associated Press, Friday, May\u00a023 – TEHRAN, Iran – An Iranian court ordered that the photo-sharing app Instagram be blocked over privacy concerns, a semiofficial news agency reported Friday, the latest in a series of websites to be banned in the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n
The agency said a court order, stemming from a private lawsuit, had been given to Iran\u2019s Ministry of Telecommunications to ban the site. However, users in the capital, Tehran, still could access the application around noon Friday. Some previous reports in Iran of websites and Internet applications being blocked never materialized.
\nOfficials with Instagram Inc. declined to comment Friday.
\nHowever, Instagram\u2019s owner Facebook is already banned in the country, along with other social websites like Twitter and YouTube. That\u2019s despite senior government leaders like Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif being active on Twitter. There are even Instagram accounts in the names of moderate President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
\nWhile top officials have unfettered access to social media, Iran\u2019s youth and technological-savvy citizens use proxy servers or other workarounds to bypass the controls.
\nSocial 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\u2019s contested nuclear program. Rouhani himself has opposed blocking social network sites before authorities create local alternatives.
\n\u201cWe should see the cyberworld as an opportunity,\u201d Rouhani said last week, according to the official IRNA news agency. \u201cWhy are we so shaky? Why don\u2019t we trust our youth?\u201d
\nHard-liners, meanwhile, accuse Rouhani of failing to stop the spread of what they deem as \u201cdecadent\u201d Western culture in Iran. Earlier this week, police arrested and showed six young Iranian on state television over them posting online a video showing them dancing to the Pharrell Williams\u2019 song \u201cHappy.\u201d Last week, hard-liners marched over women not being significantly veiled and dressing provocatively.
\nOnline, that battle continues. Iran\u2019s police chief said last year that the Islamic Republic was developing new software to control social networking sites, though it is unclear whether it was ever put to use.
\nIn 2012, Iran created the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, tasked with preventing harm to Iranians who go online. Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, ordered the creation of the council in order to fight what he called a \u201cculture invasion\u201d aimed at undermining the Islamic Republic.
\n___
\nAssociated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Cairo contributed to this report.
\nCopyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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