written by AP staff
Sunday July 13, 2014
Tehran - Iran’s official news agency is reporting eight Facebook page administrators, who have been handed jail sentences from eight to 21 years. The report by IRNA says the defendants are convicted of plotting against national security, spreading propaganda against the ruling system and insulting officials.
It did not identify the defendants or the Facebook pages. The report said Sunday that the court issued its verdict against the eight young Facebook activists in April following several court appearances.
Facebook is officially banned in Iran, as are other popular social media websites like Twitter and YouTube. Their mobile apps are banned as well. Many Iranians manage to access the banned sites through VPNs and proxy servers.
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The Toronto Star, Canada
written by Staff
Sunday July 13, 2014
Iran has cracked down on Facebook users speaking out against the government by handing out multi-year jail sentences to eight citizens.
TEHRAN, IRAN—Iran’s official news agency is reporting eight Facebook page administrators have been handed jail sentences ranging from eight to 21 years for a total of 127 years in prison.
The report by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) says the defendants are convicted of plotting against national security, spreading propaganda against the ruling system and insulting officials. It did not identify the defendants or the Facebook pages.
The report said Sunday that the court issued its verdict against the eight young Facebook activists in April following several court appearances.
Facebook is officially banned in Iran, as are other popular social media websites like Twitter and YouTube. Their mobile apps are also banned.
Many Iranians manage to access the banned sites through virtual private networks (VPNs) and proxy servers that bypass website blocks.
Social media websites were banned by Iranian authorities in 2009 after they were allegedly used to organize widespread protests against former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Facebook and Twitter was accessible for a brief period of a few hours in September of last year, sparking reports that the social media websites would be unblocked. The lifting of the bans was short-lived as Iranian authorities said access to these sites was a technical glitch.
In May, an Iranian judge summoned Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to court to address privacy issues.
Despite the social media bans, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is active on Twitter with accounts in English and Persian.
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