Iran’s Minister of Communications says internet social networking sites cannot be blocked because the country cannot replace them.

The Fars news agency reports that in a speech in Khoramshahr on Thursday January 30, Mahmoud Vaezi said: “We cannot block social networking programs because we cannot replace them.”

He stressed that blocking these sites, therefore, will only lead to a greater use of computer proxies used to circumvent internet censorship.

He stressed that the administration believes that rather than blocking social networking sites, it must create an active and effective presence in order to promote Islamic thought and values of the Islamic Republic regime.

Vaezi also referred to the use of so-called “Smart Filtering”, which is software that censors selected portions of a website rather than block the whole site. He said the technology has proved successful on Instagram. The judiciary had called on the administration to block Instagram, just as Facebook and Twitter have been blocked by Iranian authorities for several years.

Radio Zamaneh