That number represents almost a quarter of Iran’s population of 75 million—and even more than a quarter when one eliminates the pre-school population.
Mehdi Jafari, described as the technology director for the Student Basij Organization, did not say how he derived that number of 17 million Facebook members.
But he did say the statistic shows that Iran’s efforts to block Facebook were a failure. “No amount of restrictions are able to control it,” he was quoted as saying in the daily Etemad.
The US State Department funds the development of technology to help people get around government filters designed to restrict their access to the Internet. Jafari didn’t say if such US efforts are behind the huge numbers of Iranians on Facebook.
