bbc:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has become embroiled in an unprecedented row over internet censorship, after he intervened to prevent the blocking of the mobile messaging service WhatsApp.

WhatsApp is popular among young Iranians who see it as a relatively secure and cheap way of keeping in touch.

However earlier this month the state committee responsible for web filtering announced that it was planning to ban the application.

A rival messaging application, WeChat, was blocked last year.

Facebook and Twitter have been banned since 2009 when the authorities sought to crush dissent following the disputed presidential election.

Iranian web users are used to jumping from site to site as bans are imposed.

"It doesn't matter if they filter WhatsApp," a Twitter used called Pedram, wrote to BBC Persian's interactive programme Your Turn. "We can find tens of new applications each day."

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