Iran’s Minister of Culture and Guidance Ali Jannati says Iranians must have open access to Facebook and all social networking sites.

IRNA reports that on Monday November 4, Jannati said on the sidelines of a digital media conference: “Not only Facebook but also all social networking site must be accessible.”

He added, however, that such a decision needs to be made by the filtering committee, which does not fall under the authority of the culture and guidance ministry, as the ministry has only one representative on the committee.

“We have to talk with the committee members,” Jannati said; “Accessing Facebook and other social networking sites must not be illegal.”

Jannati stressed that blocking websites cannot be used a means of blocking access to free information.

Iranian authorities block many popular websites like Facebook and Twitter from being seen in the country, and internet users must access these sites through the use of proxies.

Radio Zamaneh