--- description: The judge summoned Mark Zuckerberg despite the absence of an extradition treaty between Iran and the U.S. title: Iran Judge Pokes Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg Over Privacy Complaints image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84d7a70258deda18/698690e935ba6f6ad3c02243/451913819.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Iran](/tag/iran/) ## Iran Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Iran Judge Pokes Facebook Founder Over Privacy Complaints  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 27, 2014 12:46 PM CUT  Two girls sit in a north Tehran coffee shop using Facebook and looking on the mobile phone at online fashion clothing in Tehran, Iran on October 13, 2013. Two girls sit in a north Tehran coffee shop using Facebook and looking on the mobile phone at online fashion clothing in Tehran, Iran on October 13, 2013.Kaveh Kazemi—Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 27, 2014 12:46 PM CUT An Iranian judge [wants to see Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in court](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/iran-judge-summons-facebook-ceo-court "undefined"). The judge ordered Zuckerberg to appear in court and answer complaints from Iranian citizens who say Facebook-owned apps Instagram and Whatsapp have invaded their privacy, the semi-official state news agency reported Tuesday. Zuckerberg is highly unlikely to show since Iran and the United States don’t have an extradition treaty. Facebook and Twitter were officially banned from the country in 2009, following massive street protests over a widely disputed election. A court extended the social media ban to Instagram over privacy concerns, last week. Tech savvy Iranians often circumvent the nation’s firewall using VPN servers. President Hassan Rouhani has come out in opposition to sweeping social media bans, the Associated Press reports, saying the country should at least develop viable alternatives before shutting the sites down. \[[_AP_](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/iran-judge-summons-facebook-ceo-court "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/118497/iran-judge-pokes-facebook-founder-over-privacy-complaints/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/118497/iran-judge-pokes-facebook-founder-over-privacy-complaints/"},"headline":"Iran Judge Pokes Facebook Founder Over Privacy Complaints","datePublished":"2014-05-27T12:46:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:02:19.720Z","description":"The judge summoned Mark Zuckerberg despite the absence of an extradition treaty between Iran and the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/118497/iran-judge-pokes-facebook-founder-over-privacy-complaints/","keywords":["Iran","Tech","Social Media","Hassan Rouhani","facebook","twitter","Mark Zuckerberg","privacy","Ban"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84d7a70258deda18/698690e935ba6f6ad3c02243/451913819.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84d7a70258deda18/698690e935ba6f6ad3c02243/451913819.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Daily Life In Tehran","caption":"Daily Life In Tehran","creditText":"Kaveh Kazemi—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/iran/","name":"Iran"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/118497/iran-judge-pokes-facebook-founder-over-privacy-complaints/","name":"Iran Judge Pokes Facebook Founder Over Privacy Complaints"}}]}] ```