ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - One of the main state-owned broadcasters in Iran on Tuesday urged Iranians to stop using the WhatsApp messaging app and the Instagram platform, claiming that Israel is using users’ data to harm Iran.
“We need to launch a campaign - but what kind of campaign? Instagram and WhatsApp are now functioning as social media platforms, especially since WhatsApp launched its Channels feature. The Zionist regime is using citizens’ information to harm us,” said the host of a new bulletin for the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network Two (IRINN2).
He also called on people to either delete their accounts or stop using both applications, warning that Israel is using the information on the users’ phones and wants to harm them and their beloved figures, including nuclear scientists.
The call came hours after the Israeli ambassador to the US said they have a number of “surprises” for Iran in the coming days.
“We've pulled off a number of surprises,” Yechiel Leiter said on the TV network Merit Street on Tuesday. "When the dust settles, you're going to see some surprises on Thursday night and Friday that will make the beeper operation almost seem simple," he added, reported Fox News.
In a statement, WhatsApp strongly denied the accusations, expressing concern that “these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most.”
It reiterated that all messages exchanged on the app are protected by end-to-end encryption.
“We do not give bulk data to any government,” WhatsApp added.
Iranian authorities have a history of limiting internet access during periods of unrest to suppress the spread of information.
Tensions between Israel and Iran sharply escalated on Friday when Israel hit Iran’s nuclear facilities and the killed top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders. This has made the authorities to urge citizens to refrain from using social media platforms.
Although President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in the summer, called in November for a new approach to restricted social media access amid growing public dissatisfaction with intensified censorship, Iran’s communications minister said in January that no platform would be exempt from potential unbans.
The announcement came a month after restrictions were lifted on WhatsApp and Google Play.
Updated on June 18 at 12:28 am with WhatsApp's statement.
