Widespread Reactions from Representatives and Political Figures to the Potential Blocking of Telegram

In response to the possibility of Telegram being filtered, a member of parliament called the blocking of this messaging app "a disgrace to the Islamic Republic," while several representatives described filtering as a "failed policy" and urged Hassan Rouhani to negotiate with other officials of the Islamic Republic on this matter. Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran, tweeted that "neither the Supreme Council of Cyberspace nor any other authority has issued a resolution regarding the filtering of Telegram." He also called the blocking "a failed policy." Gholamreza Heydari, another Tehran representative, referred to the filtering of Telegram as "an illusion of solving the problem" and added that "one cannot confront the world of science and technology with a closed approach." Ahmad Mazani, another Tehran representative, also tweeted that "closing social communication channels" is "a disgrace to the Islamic Republic" and "humiliating." He considered the statements of the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission regarding the filtering of Telegram as "a disgrace to the parliament" and emphasized that "the issue of Telegram is more cultural and social than security-related." Aladdin Boroujerdi, head of the National Security Commission of the Iranian Parliament, announced on April 1 that the blocking of Telegram would occur "by the end of April" and stated that this decision was made at "the highest level" of the government. However, Ramadan Ali Sabhani-Far, a parliamentary observer in the Committee for Determining Criminal Instances, rejected Mr. Boroujerdi's statements, saying that "the timing of the filtering of Telegram is not precise, and news should not be pumped into society that disrupts the psychological security of the people." In Esfand 1396, some Telegram channels reported that in a meeting of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace attended by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khamenei, he had "strongly" criticized lifting the filter on Telegram. According to these reports, a deadline was set to "strengthen" domestic messaging apps and filter foreign ones. Several members of parliament also reported on the Supreme Council of Cyberspace's resolution to filter Telegram. However, Mohammad Hosseinpour, the public relations manager of the National Cyberspace Center of Iran, denied reports about this council's resolution on March 16. Several political activists have also reacted to the potential filtering of Telegram. For instance, Abbas Abdi stated in an interview with the "Entekhab" website that "the public responsibility for decisions of this nature rests with the entire system, not just this manager or that manager." Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a member of the Combatant Clergy Association, emphasized that most members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace have "publicly expressed their opposition to social networks many times, and naturally, the majority of members can express their views in the council." Members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace are appointed by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. The heads of the three branches of government, the head of the IRIB, the secretary of the Supreme Council, the head of the Cyberspace Center, the Attorney General, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, the Minister of Culture, the Minister of Science, the Minister of Information, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Defense, the scientific and technological deputy of the President, the head of the Cultural Commission of the Parliament, the head of the Islamic Propaganda Organization, the commander of the IRGC, and the commander of the police are the legal members of this council. Ezzatollah Zarghami, Reza Taghipour, Saeed Reza Ameli, Hamid Shahriari, Mehdi Akhavan Bahabadi, Masoud Abotalebi, Kamyar Taqafi, and Rasoul Jalili are the real members of this council who were appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei in 1394. A few days after the start of nationwide protests in Dey, Telegram and Instagram were blocked in Iran, and security forces arrested several individuals involved in social networks. These two networks were unblocked after a while and the unrest subsided. After that, several officials of the Islamic Republic announced that blocking Telegram would eliminate many virtual businesses. Meanwhile, Mohammad Reza Badamchi, a member of parliament, tweeted that "filtering Telegram harms 200,000 jobs and disrupts the financial lives of half a million people." He urged Hassan Rouhani to negotiate with other officials of the Islamic Republic to prevent the filtering of this messaging app. Fatemeh Hosseini, another Tehran representative, also stated that "the constant threat of filtering Telegram, even to pressure this messaging app, has no result other than disrupting information dissemination, shutting down Telegram businesses, and public dissatisfaction." Reza Alfatnasab, the secretary of the Internet Business Association, previously announced that there are 200,000 to 300,000 online sellers in Iran, of which 50,000 are on sales sites and more than 200,000 sellers are providing goods or services on social networks. Meanwhile, Nahid Tajeddin, secretary of the Social Commission of the Parliament, also stated that more than 600,000 Telegram channels are active, of which over 40% are virtual stores. According to the latest statistics published by the deputy of the Cyberspace Center on September 18, there are currently over 40 million Telegram users in Iran, and this messaging app occupies 60% of Iran's internet bandwidth. The number of global Telegram users reached 100 million in 2017, indicating that Iranians constitute 40% of all users of this messaging app.