Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with his laptop. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – An Iranian court handling the privacy case against social media apps WhatsApp and Instagram has called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who was labeled as a “Zionist” due to his Jewish heritage, to appear before the court.

“According to the court’s ruling, the Zionist director of the company of Facebook, or his official attorney must appear in court to defend himself and pay for possible losses,” said Ruhollah Momen-Nasab, an Iranian Internet official, the state-run Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.

Zuckerberg’s Facebook, which owns WhatsApp and Instagram, has been accused of violating Iranian citizens’ privacy.

Last week, an Iranian court announced that Instagram, the popular photo-sharing app, would be blocked over privacy concerns.

Instagram joins a number of popular social media apps blocked in Iran, including Facebook and Twitter. Despite the ban, a number of Iranian leaders such as President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei operate their own social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram.