Human Rights Campaign in Iran: Domestic Messengers Allow Government to Spy

"The Human Rights Campaign in Iran" reports regarding the filtering of Telegram, stating that blocking this messenger is an attempt to cut off Iranian citizens' access to information and communications that are not controlled by the government. The international human rights campaign in Iran indicates that this action shows that Hassan Rouhani's position against this blockage has had no actual impact on the situation, and his influence in Iran's political landscape is 'diminishing.' Hassan Rouhani had previously stated his opposition to the blocking of Telegram and criticized this decision following the issuance of a judicial order regarding it. He wrote in a post on his Instagram, 'The recent blocking of Telegram was neither implemented by the government nor approved by it.' However, these objections have had no effect on lifting the blockade of Telegram in Iran. Meanwhile, human rights activists in their report have stated that the efforts of the Minister of Communications of the Islamic Republic to 'block access to filtering tools' undermines Mr. Rouhani's statements. Telegram was the most popular messenger used by Iranian citizens. The Human Rights Campaign in Iran states that many Iranian users still access the Telegram application using filtering tools. However, according to this group of civil activists, 'Those who do not have the necessary access to resources and knowledge of how to use these tools cannot use Telegram.' According to this campaign, Iranian citizens who have turned to domestic messengers will only use content approved by the government, and these messengers 'enable the government to spy on users.' The Human Rights Campaign in Iran also addresses the consequences of blocking Telegram on small businesses, stating that this decision 'directly undermines the economic and social rights of citizens.' According to this group of activists, blocking the popular messenger among Iranians is ultimately an action 'to cut off citizens' access to information or communications that are not controlled and censored by the government.' Judicial officials of the Islamic Republic issued a ruling to block Telegram on May 1st. It is reported that over forty million users in Iran used the Telegram messenger. This application was temporarily filtered following nationwide protests in December of last year. In recent months, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, became involved in the issues surrounding Telegram, and his channel on this messenger also ceased operations at the end of April. Mr. Khamenei's office then stated that this action was 'done before the official program of state institutions to stop using Telegram began.' Aladdin Boroujerdi, head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, previously stated that the decision to block Telegram was made at 'the highest level' of the ruling system. The Islamic Republic has been undertaking extensive measures for years to filter and block websites, popular social networks, news media, and applications. In this context, the deputy prosecutor of Iran called for the Ministry of Industry to deal with guild activities on Telegram. Six ministers and two members of parliament called for lifting the Twitter blockade in Iran. Ejei stated that activity on Telegram could become a crime. Rouhani remarked that he had rarely seen a nation pay such attention to foreign media.