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Iranian Telecoms Ordered to Shut Down Access to Messaging App Telegram

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A Tehran-based court today ordered Iranian telecommunications providers to block popular messaging app Telegram, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Iran has been concerned about Telegram's role in recent protests and unrest in the country, which has led to the ban.

Telegram-app.jpg
The order said Telegram gave Islamic State "safe ground" in an attack in Tehran last year and also blamed its role in protests in December and January, the biggest in Iran in almost a decade. It ordered telecommunications providers to block the service.
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As of now, the Telegram app continues to be available for use without the need for a VPN or another method of circumventing the ban, and it is not clear if and when it will be rendered unavailable in the country.

According to The Wall Street Journal, approximately 40 million Iranians use Telegram, accounting for one-fifth of Telegram's user base. Telegram is popular in the country as it offers end-to-end encrypted communication that's inaccessible to the government.

Iran's move to ban Telegram comes just a few weeks after a Russian court ordered Russian telecommunications providers to block Telegram in Russia after Telegram refused to comply with government demands for access to users' messages.

Due to U.S. sanctions, Apple does not sell its products in Iran nor is there an Iranian App Store, but there are millions of iPhones in the country that have been smuggled from places like Dubai and Hong Kong.

Apple in March blocked access to the App Store in Iran, preventing Iranians from accessing apps by setting their devices to other regions.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Iranian Telecoms Ordered to Shut Down Access to Messaging App Telegram
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/04/30/telegram-blocked-in-iran/
This has nothing to do with Russia blocking this app. Oh wait... Russian and Iran are allies. Never mind. /s
 
zorinlynx said:
So, two repressive governments are banning a messaging app. I can't think of a better endorsement of a messaging app, really. I already use Telegram, but the recent events are telling.
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Sorry for this conspiracy theory - but if they ban the service knowing that some people will use (and they already know how to break the encryption)
 
It's a British app made by the same guy who developed VK (Russia). Why would they blame the US? Governments such as the above restrict apps' internet access, such as this one, so people can't disseminate information during a revolution, protest or uprising.
 
Zenithal said:
It's a British app made by the same guy who developed VK (Russia). Why would they blame the US? Governments such as the above restrict apps' internet access, such as this one, so people can't disseminate information during a revolution, protest or uprising.
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They blame the US for everything. Guess that's why their government created a death to America emoji.
 
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Packers1958 said:
They blame the US for everything. Guess that's why their government created a death to America emoji.
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Yawn. Yeah, they also blame the Israelis. Turkey blames the Iranians, the Russians and the Kurds. The Kurds blame everyone. The Russians blame NATO. The Palestinians blame Israel. The Poles blame the Germans, the Russians, the Arabs for everything. Though they have a history of being steamrolled spanning centuries. Kind of like how we blame the Mexicans for all our problems. We just don't have an app with a "Death to Mexico" emoji. On the other hand, we just shoot brown people.
 
Zenithal said:
Yawn. Yeah, they also blame the Israelis. Turkey blames the Iranians, the Russians and the Kurds. The Kurds blame everyone. The Russians blame NATO. The Palestinians blame Israel. The Poles blame the Germans, the Russians, the Arabs for everything. Though they have a history of being steamrolled spanning centuries. Kind of like how we blame the Mexicans for all our problems. We just don't have an app with a "Death to Mexico" emoji. On the other hand, we just shoot brown people.
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You go ahead and roll with that.
 
Sven11 said:
No, at least not by default. You have to use secret chats otherwise you won't get end to end encryption.

I'd recommend Signal as it's used by Edward Snowden and has end to end encryption by default.
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Stop this no sense, Telegram is very secure much more than Whatsapp and most messaging apps. Telegram chats are encrypted by default.
 
Sven11 said:
No, at least not by default. You have to use secret chats otherwise you won't get end to end encryption.

I'd recommend Signal as it's used by Edward Snowden and has end to end encryption by default.
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Are you sure about that? According to their app statement...
 

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beanbaguk said:
Are you sure about that? According to their app statement...
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Yes, I’m sure about that. Everyone who uses Telegram can see that by pressing info inside a conversation. You’re only going to see encryption keys in secret chats.

Telegram’s app statement (while technically true) is truly misleading.
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ikir said:
Stop this no sense, Telegram is very secure much more than Whatsapp and most messaging apps. Telegram chats are encrypted by default.
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Yes but only if you’re using secret chats.

As I already said, I strongly prefer Signal.
 
Zenithal said:
Yawn. Yeah, they also blame the Israelis. Turkey blames the Iranians, the Russians and the Kurds. The Kurds blame everyone. The Russians blame NATO. The Palestinians blame Israel. The Poles blame the Germans, the Russians, the Arabs for everything. Though they have a history of being steamrolled spanning centuries. Kind of like how we blame the Mexicans for all our problems. We just don't have an app with a "Death to Mexico" emoji. On the other hand, we just shoot brown people.
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We shoot brown people? Who exactly are you referring to?
 
rictus007 said:
Is telegram really safe (Private)?
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Yes and you have a real proof here.
Dictators are banning Telegram, not signal, not other app.
[doublepost=1525196812][/doublepost]
Sven11 said:
No, at least not by default. You have to use secret chats otherwise you won't get end to end encryption.

I'd recommend Signal as it's used by Edward Snowden and has end to end encryption by default.
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I am tired of this snowden and signal propganda stuff.
Who is snowden to endorse whatever? He knows nothing about the code of the apps...
If we really want a proof of which app we should use, WE have it here: look which app is being blocked by dictators... hint: it is not signal!!!
 
hank moody said:
Yes and you have a real proof here.
Dictators are banning Telegram, not signal, not other app.
[doublepost=1525196812][/doublepost]
I am tired of this snowden and signal propganda stuff.
Who is snowden to endorse whatever? He knows nothing about the code of the apps...
If we really want a proof of which app we should use, WE have it here: look which app is being blocked by dictators... hint: it is not signal!!!
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To be fair, it might have to do more with perhaps Telegram being the more popular and known app, and thus getting the attention, while some other apps like Signal are perhaps less popular and thus not as many people might be using them and banning them won't really accomplish that much. Basically that's to say that the whole banning thing might not really have as much to do with what's actually better or anything like that, but just with what's more widely used (for whatever reason).
 
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hank moody said:
Yes and you have a real proof here.
Dictators are banning Telegram, not signal, not other app.
[doublepost=1525196812][/doublepost]
I am tired of this snowden and signal propganda stuff.
Who is snowden to endorse whatever? He knows nothing about the code of the apps...
If we really want a proof of which app we should use, WE have it here: look which app is being blocked by dictators... hint: it is not signal!!!
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Your comment is wrong, plain and simple.

Telegram has a much larger user base than Signal and is therefore a much bigger threat to those governments and a number of countries have indeed blocked Signal, however it's still accessible in most of them due to Signal's censorship circumvention methods. Also I would argue that Snowden does indeed know a few things about how Signal and Telegram work considering, you know, him being Snowden.
 
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