Ali Jannati, Iran’s Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister, has said that the Iranian Government should lift the ban on social networking websites.
This comes just days after Jannati insisted that bookshops in Iran would soon be allowed to stock a wider range of books that had once been banned. He said "books subjected to censorship or denied permission to be published in the past will be reviewed again."
Iran’s reasoning for banning social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook was that activists used them to organise street protests after a disputed presidential vote.
However, several important Iranian figures have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, including the Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and the president Hassan Rouhani. The president boasts over 122,000 followers on his English account and over 31,000 on his Persian account.
How is it fair that the president of the country is allowed an active Twitter account, which he uses to talk about politics and religion, yet the Iranian citizens are forbidden? It seems to be a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ situation.
In September, Facebook and Twitter were very briefly made accessible in Iran, but were quickly banned again once government officials caught on. This was apparently due to a technical glitch.
Social networking websites can be used and abused, with people using them to spread terror or organise illegal demonstrations. But that is a minority, small enough to be almost insignificant when you think of how many people use the websites for good.
Whether Facebook is used to keep in touch with friends and family in different countries, or Twitter is used to promote your business (or yourself), it’s not a bad thing, it’s a great innovation that has brought the world closer together. Hopefully more Iranian government officials will agree with Jannati soon, giving the country a chance to join in the conversation.
