Iran's Judiciary Officially Orders the Blocking of the Messaging App 'Telegram'

The Tehran Prosecutor's Office for Culture and Media has issued an order to block the messaging app Telegram, requesting internet service providers in Iran to implement this directive. The investigator from the second branch of the Tehran Prosecutor's Office published this judicial order and asked all internet service providers in Iran, especially the Infrastructure Communications Company and telephone operators, as well as holders of fixed communication service licenses, to execute this order starting from Tuesday, April 29. Previously, the 'Infrastructure Communications Company' in Iran had reported that the 'Secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace' and the 'Head of the National Cyberspace Center' had informed this company that the license for establishing Telegram's content distribution network servers in Iran had been revoked, and as a result, this company had taken those servers offline. According to the announcement from the 'Infrastructure Communications Company', with the implementation of this order, data exchange on Telegram will henceforth be routed 'only through the country's international communications', which 'may result in a decrease in the quality of using this messaging app'. At the same time, several social media users in Iran reported slow message transmission and poor quality on Telegram since last Thursday morning, stating that despite the slow performance of Telegram, they prefer not to trust domestic messaging apps. The Prosecutor's Office for Culture and Media has stated that the decision to block Telegram was made due to 'disruption of national unity... through the promotion of ethnic and racial issues and inciting and provoking people to rebellion and chaos', 'actions against national security through terrorist groups', and 'propaganda against' the Islamic Republic. Other reasons cited for this decision include 'gathering information about the people and the country and allowing foreigners access to the privacy and data of Iranian citizens and espionage in favor of foreign entities', 'insulting sacred Islamic values and promoting deviant sects opposed to Islam', and 'the publication, distribution, and trade of various obscene content and violations of public decency and the spread of corruption and prostitution in society'. The investigator from the second branch of the Tehran Prosecutor's Office has mentioned that 'numerous complaints' against the Telegram social network have been sent to the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office and claimed that 'many requests' from 'citizens' to prevent the activities of this network have also been received by this office. According to the announcement from the Prosecutor's Office for Culture and Media, 'spreading falsehoods and disturbing public opinion and harming public comfort', 'smuggling goods and currency and drugs and other illegal items', 'fraud, violation of intellectual property rights, and other financial crimes', and 'defamation of individuals' have also been influential factors in making this decision. The investigator from the second branch of the Tehran Prosecutor's Office has also stated that 'numerous complaints' against the Telegram social network have been sent to the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office and claimed that 'many requests' from 'citizens' to prevent the activities of this network have also been received by this office. 'Requests from law enforcement and other relevant institutions for legal action and decisions to prevent the continuation of unregulated and uncontrollable activities of Telegram' and the refusal of the managers of this network to 'adhere' to Iranian laws are also among the points mentioned in the judicial order of the Prosecutor's Office for Culture and Media. This office has claimed that Telegram has been a 'platform' for the activities of 'opposing' groups, including ISIS, in the attack on the Iranian Parliament building and the mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini in June 2017, as well as the widespread protests in December of the previous year. The Prosecutor's Office for Culture and Media has introduced Telegram as 'a secure platform for committing various crimes', which is why 'thousands of cases' have been filed against it in Iran's judiciary. The judicial order from the Prosecutor's Office for Culture and Media notes that 'the managers of this network have not cooperated with judicial authorities and law enforcement in collecting and providing evidence of crimes... {and} have created serious obstacles to the administration of justice in the country'. This office has also written that the managers of Telegram have decided to 'directly enter the economic and monetary domain of the country and design and offer a type of cryptocurrency called Gram', which, if it becomes widespread, 'will cause billions of dollars in economic losses to the people and the country in a short period'. In recent weeks, conflicting reports about the decision to block Telegram have emerged. These reports became widespread after Aladdin Boroujerdi, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, announced on April 1 that Telegram would be blocked by the end of April. The news agency 'House of the People' quoted Aladdin Boroujerdi as stating that this decision was made at 'the highest level' of the government and 'considering the destructive role of Telegram'. In March 2018, some Telegram channels reported that in one of the meetings of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace attended by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had 'strongly' criticized the lifting of the Telegram ban. However, Hassan Rouhani, the President, and Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Minister of Communications, have stated that there are no plans to block this messaging app. In January of the previous year, during the early days of nationwide protests in Iran, Telegram and Instagram were blocked in Iran, and security forces arrested several individuals involved with social media networks. However, after the unrest subsided, these two networks were unblocked. Pavel Durov, the manager of Telegram, had previously stated that Iranian officials blocked access to this network due to the rejection of a request to filter the Telegram channel 'Voice of the People', which had replaced Amadnews, and several other Telegram channels. The Telegram manager also promised that changes would be made to this messaging app in the near future that would make filtering it impossible. The order to block Telegram has been issued while government officials recently stated that blocking Telegram is not on their agenda, but the monopoly of it must be broken and domestic messaging apps strengthened. Telegram is one of the most popular social networks in Iran, with over 40 million Iranian users.