Iranian communications minister calls for Twitter ban to be lifted

Tehran, Aug. 10, (dpa/GNA) – Twitter should be legal in Iran, according to the country’s communications minister, in comments carried on Sunday by state-run news agency IRNA.

The social media platform is banned as it is blacklisted by the judicial and security authorities, but this is due for a revision, said Mohammed-Javad Asari-Jahromi.

At 37, Jahromi is the youngest minister in President Hassan Rowhani’s Cabinet and took office in August 2017. It is not the first time he has issued strong calls for the ban to be eased.

He and many others in Iran have called the ban absurd, especially as many members of government use Twitter, including Rowhani, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and even hard-line officials.

Thousands of websites are blocked in Iran, but most people ignore such bans. More than half of Iranians use at least one banned social media network, according to a study.

GNA