Arrest of CEO of a 'Self-Sufficient' Messaging App for Facilitating the Spread of 'Immoral Content'

A media outlet close to the security institutions of the Islamic Republic has reported that the CEO of one of the government-approved messaging apps in Iran has been arrested on charges of 'spreading immoral content' on the platform he manages. The website 'Mashregh News', which is linked to the security agencies of the Islamic Republic, reported the arrest of Farhad Moradi, CEO of the domestic messaging platform 'Soroush'. The reason for his arrest was stated as 'failure to heed warnings and correspondence from regulatory and judicial bodies'. According to this report, the charge against the CEO of Soroush is 'providing a platform for the dissemination of immoral content in cyberspace'. Following the escalation of a new wave of social and political protests across Iran since December 2017, the popular messaging app 'Telegram' was 'filtered' and access for users was blocked by the order of the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic. After this action and the continued popularity of citizens using such filtered foreign messaging apps, Iranian security officials decided to launch similar domestic alternatives for users under the title of 'domestic messaging apps'. On the other hand, the Fars news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, wrote in this regard: After Farhad Moradi was summoned several times by entities related to the judiciary of the Islamic Republic and due to 'failure to appear', a 'warrant for his arrest' was issued and he was detained. Despite the fact that the 'Soroush' messaging app is affiliated with the public institution 'Jam-e Jam' and the state broadcasting organization, which, like other similar domestic messaging apps, has benefited from government privileges and billions in aid to start and continue its activities, it has not yet gained significant popularity among users. According to the company 'Meta', despite the widespread crackdown on protests last year and the Iranian government's efforts to block social networks, still 'tens of millions' of Iranians use Instagram (another filtered platform like Telegram).