(JTA) — Iran banned the free text-messaging service WhatsApp because it is now owned by a Jew, Mark Zuckerberg, according to news reports citing an Iranian censor.
“The reason for this is the assumption of WhatsApp by the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is an American Zionist,” said Abdolsamad Khorramabadi, head of the country’s secretary of the Committee for Determining Criminal Web Content, Fox News reported Sunday.
Facebook acquired WhatsApp in February for a reported $19 billion in cash and stock. Zuckerberg is Facebook’s founder and chief executive.
Iran does not ban Facebook. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has been active in recent months on the social networking site as well as Twitter.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
