TEHRAN, Iran — A moderate challenger to hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned the authorities on Monday for blocking access to the Facebook social networking site ahead of the June 12 presidential election.
With the Internet playing a mounting role in political debate, authorities have curbed access to political, human rights and news websites, and blocked Facebook on Saturday.
Former parliament speaker Mehdi Karoubi said websites should be tolerated at "such a sensitive political period."
"It (Facebook) was filtered by the authorities because of moral issues. But filtering Facebook just days before the election was wrong," Karoubi told a news conference.
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