News Sources in Iran Report Lifting of Telegram Ban

Iranian news agencies reported on Saturday evening, January 13, that the ban on Telegram was lifted 'by the order of the President.' This messaging app had been blocked following recent nationwide protests in Iranian cities. The ISNA news agency reported that 'the temporary ban on Telegram and some restrictions that had been imposed at the request of certain organizations over the past two weeks have been completely lifted by the President's order.' Fars news agency also wrote that according to users, it is now possible to use Telegram on home [ADSL] networks and mobile internet. ILNA news agency also reported that in a contact with the Ministry of Communications, the ministry confirmed the lifting of the Telegram ban. However, reports indicate that after the lifting of the Telegram ban, the app faced slowdowns due to 'the influx of users.' Following the recent protests in Iranian cities, disruptions occurred in the internet, especially affecting Telegram. After a few days, both Telegram and Instagram were completely blocked in Iran, although it was announced last Saturday that Instagram had been unblocked. During the recent nationwide protests, Telegram had become a channel for receiving news and videos from unofficial domestic and foreign sources. Pavel Durov, the CEO 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 replaced Amadnews, and several other Telegram channels. The Telegram CEO also promised that changes would be made to the app in the near future that would make it impossible to filter it. Following the recent protests, political factions, military and security officials, Friday prayer leaders, and government officials have taken very different stances regarding the limitation or lifting of restrictions on social networks. However, Hassan Rouhani, the President, criticized groups and officials who demand a permanent filtering of social networks a few days ago. According to the Telegram CEO, about 40 million users use this messaging app in Iran, and Iranian officials confirmed that thousands of businesses were harmed after the Telegram ban. During the period of Telegram's blockage, many Iranian users accessed this messaging app using VPNs, although on Friday, a representative of the judiciary in the committee for determining internet criminal cases claimed that Telegram's activity had decreased by 'more than 90 percent' after its blockage. Abdol-Samad Khoramabadi, the Deputy Attorney General and Secretary of the Committee for Determining Internet Criminal Cases, also claimed that during the period of Telegram's blockage, 'millions of users' of this messaging app 'migrated to domestic messaging apps.' The blocking of Telegram in Iran led to protests from many human rights organizations, and the U.S. government also imposed new sanctions against several Iranian individuals and entities, sanctioning the Supreme Council of Cyberspace of Iran, the Cyber Defense Center of the Revolutionary Guards, and several other organizations due to their role in limiting Iranian users' access to the internet and international media.