The Iranian government wants to block Messenger Telegram by mid-April. This is reported by Iranian news agency, citing Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of parliamentary Committee on National Security and foreign policy. “It has been decided at highest political level,” Boroujerdi said. The app should be replaced by local, far less popular service Sorusch. The issue is “from point of view of national security” enormously important for country, because Telegram played “a destructive role” in recent political crises.
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During regime-critical protests at beginning of year, demonstrators had disseminated telegram videos and images of protests in Germany and abroad. In January, government blocked app temporarily. The clergy and hardliners demanded permanent blocking and introduction of a state-controlled internet.
The government of President Hassan Ruhani rejected se measures first. Ruhani said that no book could be banned, just because some of content did not fall. In short term, president was able to prevail against hardliners.
Wher Telegram would actually no longer be used after a blocking, correlates beyond. Through so-called VPN connections, telegram users can technically bypass lock and continue to access app. This is done according to information from IT pros for years with or banned apps like Twitter or Facebook. In Iran, Telegram is most popular messaging app with more than 40 million users and is also used for business transactions. Doctors can even send lab results to ir patients via telegram. According to Sorusch, which is to replace Boroujerdi Telegram, only three million users are estimated.
