Iran blames Meta for spreading negative information for the country’s security

Oct. 11 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Iran has blamed this Monday the social networks Instagram and Whatsapp, belonging to the Meta company, of being involved in the dissemination of negative information for the country’s security, in the framework of the protests over the death of the young Mahsa Amini.

“The two social networks Instagram and WhatsApp –from Meta Platforms– were involved in the dissemination of incendiary material and in endangering our national security as part of the conspiracy operations of our enemies,” said the deputy minister of the Interior, Majid Mirahmadi, according to statements to the Mehr news agency, collected by DPA.

The issue of national security is, according to Mirahmadi, a “red line”, he has indicated.

Mehdi Bagheri, a supervising member of Parliament’s task force to identify examples of criminal cyber content, has said that “any platform that claims to operate in any country must follow the laws of that country.”

“Instagram and WhatsApp have been limited by order of the security team. As long as security conditions prevail in the country, the restrictions will continue,” Bagheri said.

Thus, Bagheri has indicated that “currently, Iran does not have any memorandum of understanding or cooperation agreement with any of the software such as WhatsApp and Instagram, and these applications do not accept any of the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

NGOs denounced these days ago the serious problems to access the Internet in recent days that are affecting platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Signal, Viber, Skype, LinkedIn, Google Play or App Store.

Amini was arrested on September 13 and died three days after falling into a coma after fainting in a detention center, amid allegations of torture and ill-treatment. Police have denied the allegations and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has promised an investigation.