Telegram Denies Iran's Claim About Blocking 'Requested Channels'

The founder of Telegram has rejected the claim made by Iran's Minister of Communications regarding the blocking of 'requested channels' and denied the deletion of channels belonging to some Iranian users, stating that the owners of these channels 'have likely been hacked.' Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, stated on Wednesday, January 13, that the messaging app Telegram had announced it would 'block any channel' reported by this ministry. He emphasized that 'several lists of inappropriate channels that have activities contrary to the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran and have been sent to Telegram by the ministry have been blocked.' The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported on Thursday, January 14, that some Iranian Telegram users 'lost access to their wide audiences... for unknown reasons' over the past week. However, Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, responded to these reports on Twitter, stating that the claim made by the Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology is 'definitely incorrect.' He also wrote that he 'guesses' the Iranian Ministry of Communications sends its reports to the email Telegram has provided for reporting 'pornographic content and Islamic State groups,' just like anyone else. Durov rejected the deletion of some Iranian Telegram users' channels, stating that they 'have likely been hacked' and that the messaging service is investigating this issue. According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, there has been a 'significant volume of cyberattacks using spyware disseminated via email targeting journalists, political activists, and civil society members' in recent weeks. Iranian government officials and parliament representatives have reported that the number of Telegram users ranges from 13 to 20 million, and the issue of filtering this messaging app has made headlines multiple times in recent months. In this regard, the Working Group for Determining the Instances of Criminal Content, which is responsible for filtering websites in Iran, announced on November 18 that if Telegram does not take the necessary actions to comply with the laws and regulations of the country within a limited time, the Iranian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology will filter it. This is while many government officials and even the office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic use this messaging network for information dissemination. Regarding the limitation of Telegram services in Iran, the newspaper Shahrvand reported on Tuesday, December 22, about the 'smart filtering' of this messaging service and restrictions on sending certain messages through it. Meanwhile, Abdolsamad Khoramabadi, the secretary of the Committee for Determining the Instances of Criminal Content, recently reported that filtering Telegram did not receive a vote in the meeting of this working group on Tuesday, January 4. He also stated that the judiciary could 'directly and explicitly block this network or any other social network.' In this context, filtering the Telegram messaging network in Iran did not receive a vote. The Shahrvand newspaper reported that smart filtering of Telegram has begun in Iran, and the IRGC has identified '300,000 Telegram users in Markazi province.' The police have arrested 100 hackers and blocked 20 Telegram channels. 'Blocking Telegram remains on the agenda.' Vaezi stated that Telegram will not be blocked if it adheres to the red lines. The Iranian Minister of Communications denied the statements of the Telegram manager. The number of Iranian users of the Telegram application is reported to be '13 million.' The Iranian Ministry of Communications denied filtering the social network Telegram.