Conflicting Reports on the Filtering of Telegram in Iran in 2018

While statements from a member of parliament and other reports indicate that the Supreme Council of Cyberspace has decided to filter Telegram in 2018, the public relations manager of the National Cyberspace Center of Iran stated that this is not true. Mohammad Hossein Pour said in an interview with Mehr News Agency on Saturday, March 17, that the Supreme Council of Cyberspace "has not issued any resolution regarding the filtering of the Telegram social network." He emphasized that the resolutions of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace are only announced by the council's secretary and published on the websites of the National Cyberspace Center and the presidency. Hours before these remarks, Hamideh Zareabadi, a member of the Parliament's Industries Commission, reported that the Supreme Council of Cyberspace has approved the filtering of Telegram for the coming year, and the statements of the Deputy Attorney General are a groundwork for implementing this decision. Ms. Zareabadi, in an interview with ILNA, said that based on "reliable information" obtained from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Supreme Council of Cyberspace has decided to filter Telegram next year. She considered the Deputy Attorney General's remarks as "groundwork for implementing this decision." Abdolsamad Khoramabadi, the Deputy Attorney General and Secretary of the Working Group for Determining Criminal Content, announced on Friday that "not only will Twitter and YouTube not be unblocked, but... we will soon witness a significant transformation regarding the rescue of the country's cyberspace from the domination and influence of some foreign social networks." Meanwhile, some Telegram channels reported that a recent meeting of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace was held with the presence of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and Ayatollah Khamenei "strongly" criticized the unblocking of Telegram. According to these reports, a deadline has been set in this meeting to "strengthen" domestic messaging apps and filter foreign messaging apps. Ahmad Jannati, the Chairman of the Assembly of Experts, reported on February 25 about a "several-hour" meeting of the Supreme Leader with some "experts" in cyberspace, adding that following this meeting, "an action will be taken." A few days after the start of nationwide protests in December, Telegram and Instagram were filtered in Iran, and security forces arrested several individuals involved with social networks. These two networks were unblocked after a while and the unrest ended. However, on January 16, 170 members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly sent a letter to the heads of the three branches, stating that recent gatherings have occurred "on the platforms" of foreign messaging apps, calling for the replacement of domestic messaging apps instead of these messaging apps and the organization of VPNs. Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, had previously announced that his government supports the freedom of social networks and that his Minister of Communications and Information Technology "will not press the filtering button." Meanwhile, Hamideh Zareabadi stated: "It is expected that the government or the Ministry of Communications, if opposed to this decision, will at least transparently inform the people of their position." Members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace are appointed by the decree of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. The heads of the three branches, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the secretary of the council, the head of the National Cyberspace Center, the Attorney General, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the Minister of Science, the Minister of Intelligence, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Defense, the Vice President for Science and Technology, the head of the Cultural Commission of the Parliament, the head of the Islamic Propaganda Organization, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the commander of the Law Enforcement Force are legal members of this council. Ezzatollah Zarghami, Reza Taghipour, Saeed Reza Ameli, Hamid Shahriari, Mehdi Akhavan Bahabadi, Masoud Abotalebi, Kamyar Taqafi, and Rasool Jalili are real members of this council who were appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei in 2015. The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic has assigned missions such as "purifying cyberspace," "accelerating the establishment of a national information network," and "preventing cultural and social damages" to this council. Telegram is considered one of the most popular social networks in Iran, with over 40 million Iranian users. As the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Iran previously stated, 80% of information production in the Persian-language cyberspace occurs on this network and through 11,000 Telegram channels.