Minister of Communications: Meta has not yet responded to the letter of the National Center for Cyberspace

Yesterday, a member of the parliament’s cultural commission claimed that Instagram and WhatsApp have accepted Iran’s conditions in a nutshell They are likely to come to Iran. But today, the Minister of Communications said in a group of journalists about this claim of Javad Nikbein: “Ask him himself, we do not have such news and nothing has reached us.”

Isa Zarepour also emphasized that this letter was sent by the National Center for Cyberspace and he has not received a response until this morning:

In most of the countries where Instagram or WhatsApp are among their dominant platforms, these two platforms have an office at the request of that country and accept the rules of that country, but I do not know about this recent issue because the letter was sent by the National Center for Cyberspace and I am from friends in the morning. I also asked the National Center and they said we have not received an answer yet. Apparently, this conversation that was raised by one of the honorable representatives of the parliament these days is speculation.

Zarepour also mentioned that every now and then a voice is heard from the representatives. Previously, on 28 November, Ali Asghar Anabestani claimed in an interview:Now that Instagram is filtered in Iran, they have sent us a message asking what are your conditions? “Friends of the Ministry of Communications and the Supreme National Security Council are investigating the issue.” But after Zomit’s follow-up, it turned out that Instagram has not made any correspondence with Iran, and the Ministry of Communications is not aware of this issue. Anabastani denied this statement in response to Zomit and said that the published conversation was not an exact quote and the media reflected it wrongly.

After the severe restrictions of recent months and the filtering of Instagram and WhatsApp, the issue of writing letters with foreign platforms to accept Iran’s conditions has been brought up more than in the past. Finally, the National Center for Virtual Space announced on 16 Azar that it had sent a letter to Meta Company and in it after Accusing Instagram of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the laws of the platform itself, it has given a 10-day deadline to introduce a responsible official representative. In a part of the center’s public relations notice, it is stated: “In this letter, the National Center for Virtual Space has given Meta Company the opportunity to take the necessary measures, including the introduction of a responsible official representative based in Iran, for a maximum of 10 days in order to enable the stable operation of the mentioned platforms. After receiving the letter from that company, according to the policies and regulations of the country regarding the operation of foreign companies in the country’s virtual space.

The ten-day deadline of this company had not yet expired when Nikbin announced the arrival of Instagram and WhatsApp to Iran. News that the Ministry of Communications is not aware of.

This letter was sent in a situation where legal experts believe that the existing laws and regulations prevent the presence of foreign platforms in Iran from both sides.