Conflicting Reports on the Permanent Ban of Telegram in Iran 'by the End of Farvardin'

Hours after the head of the National Security Commission of the Iranian Parliament announced on Saturday, April 11, that the Telegram application would be permanently banned 'by the end of this month', another representative stated that the timing of this event 'is not clear'. According to the House of Parliament news agency, Aladdin Boroujerdi, the head of this commission, said that at the 'highest level' of government and 'considering the destructive role of Telegram', it has been decided that Telegram will be replaced by 'a national system'. Mr. Boroujerdi did not provide further details about the individual or entity making this decision. In Esfand 1396, some Telegram channels reported that in a meeting of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace attended by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khamenei, he had 'strongly' criticized the lifting of the Telegram ban. However, while Mr. Boroujerdi spoke of 'the end of Farvardin' as the time for the permanent ban on Telegram, another representative, who serves as a 'parliamentary observer in the committee for determining criminal instances', contradicted him. Ramadanali Sobhanifar said: 'The timing of the Telegram ban is not precise, and news should not be pumped into society that disrupts the psychological security of the people.' Shortly after the onset of nationwide protests in Dey, which erupted in dozens of cities, Telegram and Instagram were banned in Iran, and security forces arrested several individuals involved in social media. These two networks were unblocked after a while and with the end of the unrest in the country. However, on January 26, 170 members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly sent a letter to the leaders of the three branches of government, stating that recent gatherings had taken place 'within' foreign messaging applications and called for the replacement of domestic messaging applications instead of these platforms and the regulation of VPNs. Subsequently, reports emerged in Esfand indicating the Supreme Council of Cyberspace's decision to ban Telegram in 1397; however, the public relations manager of the National Cyberspace Center of Iran stated that such information is not accurate. Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, had previously stated that his government supports the freedom of social networks and that his Minister of Communications and Information Technology 'will not press the filtering button'. However, it now seems that the decision regarding networks such as Telegram is definitive: according to Aladdin Boroujerdi, 'Telegram will be replaced by a similar national system, and this decision has been made at the highest level.' According to the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, 'Given the destructive role that Telegram played in the crises of the past year in the country', the issue of shutting down Telegram is significant from a 'national security' perspective for the Islamic Republic. While this parliament representative speaks of replacing Telegram with a 'national' and domestic system, there are representatives in the Parliament who disagree with Mr. Boroujerdi and believe that a domestic application cannot replace Telegram. For instance, Masoud Pezeshkian expressed doubt about the use of domestic messaging applications on Friday, April 10, saying: 'When people do not turn to domestic messaging applications, it indicates that the problem lies with us.' Previously, the head of the Citizens' Rights faction in the Parliament had stated that the 'reality' is that the people of Iran do not 'trust' domestic messaging applications. Nevertheless, it seems that the government has resolved this issue by stating, according to Boroujerdi, 'When Telegram is removed from the circuit, people will turn to a national system.' In recent weeks, reports about the potential ban of Telegram have sparked a wave of discussion and protest among the people on social media, leading to the creation of hashtags such as 'domestic messaging application' and 'filtergram'. Many social media users have expressed their opposition to the ban on Telegram through these hashtags, with some declaring that they would never use a domestic messaging application. Currently, among the existing 'domestic' messaging applications in Iran, Soroush, Viber, Gap, IGap, and Bisphone can be mentioned. Telegram is one of the most popular social networks in Iran, with over 40 million Iranian users. As the Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance has previously stated, 80% of information production in the Persian-speaking virtual space occurs on this network and through 11,000 Telegram channels.