Mark Zuckerberg ordered to appear in court in IRAN to answer complaints about Facebook violating privacy

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been ordered by a judge in southern Iran to appear in court to answer complaints about the company violating privacy. 

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been ordered
 by a judge in southern Iran to appear in court

Individuals say Facebook-owned applications Instagram and Whatsapp violate their privacy. 

Ruhollah Momen Nasab, an official with the paramilitary Basij force, said a judge has also ordered the two apps to be blocked. 

It is highly unlikely that Zuckerberg would appear in an Iranian court since there is no extradition treaty between Iran and the #UnitedStates. 

Some #Iranian courts have in recent years issued similar rulings that could not be carried out.

Another Iranian court last week ordered Instagram to be blocked over privacy concerns. 

However, users in the capital Tehran could still access both applications around noon today. 

In Iran, websites and Internet applications have sometimes been reported blocked but remained operational.

Facebook is already banned in the country, along with other social websites like Twitter and YouTube.

However some senior leaders like Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are active on Twitter.

While top officials have unfettered access to social media, Iran's youth and technological-savvy citizens use proxy servers or other workarounds to bypass the controls.

The administration of moderate President Hassan Rouhani is opposed to blocking such websites before authorities create local alternatives. 

Social media has offered a new way for him and his administration to reach out to the West as it negotiates with world powers over the country's contested nuclear program.

The administration of moderate President Hassan Rouhani is opposed to blocking such websites before authorities create local alternatives

'We should see the cyber world as an opportunity,' Rouhani said last week, according to the official IRNA news agency. 

'Why are we so shaky? Why don't we trust our youth?'

Hard-liners accuse Rouhani of failing to stop the spread of what they deem as 'decadent' Western culture in Iran.  The Daily Mail