Culture minister likens Iran's fear of Internet to fear of fax machine
Culture Minister Ali Jannati has told Iran's Chamber of Commerce that the country needs to open up culturally and must accept new technologies as they are introduced.
At a meeting with Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Culture Minister Ali Jannati warned that the government’s initial rejection of new technologies and later acceptance was causing the country to fall behind. At the informal breakfast meeting, Jannati also criticized the blocking of popular social media websites, jamming satellite stations and the lack of tolerance of officials toward opposing views.
“In social media and the virtual world, we still do not know if we are supposed to block Viber and WhatsApp or not,” said Jannati, referring to a quarrel between the administration and the judiciary, which ordered that the websites be blocked.
