Criticism from the Secretary of the Filtering Working Group: The Ministry of Communications has not blocked 8,000 Telegram channels

The Deputy Attorney General and Secretary of the Filtering Working Group announced the identification of 40,000 criminal channels on the Telegram social network and criticized the Ministry of Communications for not blocking these channels yet. According to Mehr News Agency, Abdolsamad Khorramabadi stated on Sunday night, July 25, during a television program that 'these channels should be communicated to Telegram managers for blocking by the Ministry of Communications' and added, 'Telegram does not believe in these issues, and therefore no action has been taken in this regard. Although some obscene channels have been shut down by this social network, the definition of obscene by this network differs from our definitions.' This judicial official pointed out that 'more than two-thirds of the virtual space is occupied by foreigners' and added, 'We do not say that all virtual space is abandoned, but a large part of the country's virtual space is uncontrollable.' The Deputy Attorney General for Cyber Affairs announced that 3,300 Telegram channels are blocked weekly, stating, 'More than 30% of criminal channels operate against the security of the country. However, the Ministry of Communications easily says that Telegram does not implement our orders. Why should we allow services to foreigners?' This judicial official noted that the Telegram channel of the People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran operates 'freely' and stated, 'Despite the fact that publishing books against the regime and revolution is not allowed in the country, the enemies of the regime provide content online against the regime, and no one stops them.' The Secretary of the Filtering Working Group referred to the Minister of Communications' remarks that filtering is based on government policy, saying, 'The law must be enforced here, and according to the law, 66 criminal content examples are defined that social networks must adhere to.' Abdolsamad Khorramabadi urged Mahmoud Vaezi, as the 'responsible for the country's communications, not to allow communications to take place on foreign platforms.' Despite his criticisms of Telegram, the Deputy Attorney General stated, 'We do not agree with the closure of this social network, but the Ministry of Communications has been very negligent in its work and has created a situation where people manage their communications on the foreign Telegram network instead of using the national information network.' Abdolsamad Khorramabadi said, 'Just as we have stopped the smuggling of goods in the country, we must stop the smuggling of communications in the virtual space, and the Ministry of Communications has been negligent in this regard.' In response to the criticisms, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Deputy Minister of Communications, who participated in the television program on Sunday night, pointed out that 'the filtering of the country's virtual space and social networks is carried out according to the 66 defined criminal content examples' and added, 'We can apply these examples for domestic content, but we cannot for foreign content.' The CEO of the Infrastructure Communications Company added, 'Our cultural issues differ from foreign values. We deal harshly with domestic service providers, but we cannot take any action against foreign service providers because ultimately we have to filter them and open the way for users to use VPNs.' According to Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, an average of 3,300 Telegram channels with examples such as 'ISIS, violence, child abuse, and insults against the regime's sanctities are blocked weekly.' The Deputy Minister of Communications, referring to 'negotiations with Telegram managers to block these channels,' said, 'For various reasons, it has not been possible to block some of these channels by Telegram.' Regarding the non-blocking of 8,000 Telegram channels, he stated, 'If we can exert more sovereignty over foreign service providers, we can stop the activities of those 8,000 channels that have not been recognized as criminal by Telegram managers due to the non-compliance of criminal content definitions.' Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi attributed the increased use of foreign services such as Telegram and Instagram to 'inadequate interaction with international services' and stated, 'Due to the negative approach, we are witnessing today that users are fulfilling their needs from the filtered YouTube service through Telegram.' The government of Hassan Rouhani and officials of the judiciary have differing opinions on the blocking of certain Telegram channels. Mr. Rouhani stated before the 12th presidential election that those who, according to him, repeatedly pressured the government to filter social networks are now at the forefront of using virtual space during the elections. Mahmoud Vaezi, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, also stated in March 2017 that this ministry would not be influenced by 'pressures' and 'the efforts of certain individuals' to filter Telegram and that this messenger would not be filtered during the presidential election of 2017. International organizations advocating for freedom of expression, including Reporters Without Borders, have repeatedly named Iran as one of the enemies of the internet. In this context, several managers of Telegram channels supporting Hassan Rouhani's government were arrested and imprisoned last year. This action has drawn criticism from Hassan Rouhani and several political figures as well as members of parliament. These criticisms have been rejected by judicial officials. In this regard, the Attorney General defended the filtering of Telegram voice calls, stating that 16,000 to 20,000 Telegram channels are filtered weekly, which is not enough, and that 160,000 'heretical and corrupt' internet channels were blocked in the past year. Motahari stated that filtering social networks should be lifted for all people. Several popular Telegram channels have been 'hacked and taken offline' after their managers were summoned. The head of the Cyber Police stated that the government opposes the filtering of Instagram.