The social network Badoo has been banned in Iran.

The photo shows the highlighted text that appears for those who try to access the site locally.

There was no statement or any legal explanation of the decision. For the first time in the history of the network, it was completely blocked by the government of a country.

The Badoo can be defined as a social network focused on courtship between users, without any political function. It is this aspect of “romance” which angered the Muslim authorities, but the lack of an official response from the government makes it all just speculation.

The site had also partnered with mobile network Turkcell, which has connections with the IranCell, the main operator in Iran, as the system’s social network is largely based on sending SMS messages (its payment services are sent by IranCell). However, blocking the site stopped operations. Badoo are now trying to reverse the situation and return to be accessible by users.

Michael Geer, CEO and cofounder of the network, told the European site TechCrunch that the company noted the rapid decline in numbers, in addition to receiving several e-mails to support. Local censorship, as it’s known, is not new, and it hits the internet, very noticeable by the government’s interest in monitoring the growth of Twitter in the country during the recent wave of political protests.

Via: TechCrunch.