New York — The online social networking websites Facebook and Twitter were back in business for Iranians, just a day after the government authorities blocked it reportedly to prevent supporters of a moderate in the presidential race from using it for his campaign, the Ilna news agency said on Tuesday. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied ordering the site blocked.
A freelance writer, the 28-year-old woman, who dubs herself as Shahrazad to shield her identity, said the sites were reactivated during the morning.
On Monday, CNN Correspondent Reza Sayah asked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about the shutdown of Facebook. He told the news conference he had not called for the ban but would look into it.
He added, “I believe in maximum freedom of expression.”
According to, The Iranian Labor News Agency, or ILNA, stated that the site is now accessible to ordinary Web surfers. The revoking of the ban came a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied he was behind the decision to block the site, which has been used by his opponent to rally supporters for next month’s presidential election.
Reformist challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister, was employing Facebook to generate buzz for his campaign. According to the tersely worded ILNA report, the site has been blocked and unblocked numerous times over the last few days.
Ilna is believed to be close to reformist candidates standing in the June 12 election.
The agency stated that the online social networking site had been banned after a decision “by a committee of representatives from the ministry of interior, intelligence, judiciary, parliament and some other ministries.”
On May 23, it said access was blocked because “supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi were using Facebook to better disseminate the candidate’s positions.”
Shahrazad, who has been blogging for eight years, said Twitter also was affected. She maintains an English-language blog on WordPress in which she discusses Iranian and world issues and topics related to women.
The writer, who resides in Tehran, spoke to CNN via a computer voice system.
“I personally think that sometimes people use very bad language when they are campaigning,” Shahrazad said. Any kind of behavior that is insulting is “unacceptable” in Iran.
It is not unusual for the Iranian government to monitor and filter blogs — taking action against anything it considers offensive, she said.
The authorities did not gave specific reason for initially banning access to the site and then restoring it. They closely monitor access to Internet, especially political and pornographic sites.
Despite strict controls, the Internet is quickly becoming an essential tool in Iranian politics, with presidential contenders like Mehdi Karroubi launching campaign websites and Mousavi using Twitter and even launching his own YouTube channel.
Facebook, which says it has 175 million users worldwide, had expressed its disappointment over the disruption.
It said the problems had come “at a time when voters are turning to the internet as a source of information about election candidates and their positions”.