Warning and Concerns Over Internet Business Disruptions if Instagram Remains Permanently Filtered

He described the “important issue” as efforts by some groups to continue blocking these two networks, particularly Instagram, even after the “subsiding” of street protests, and characterized this action as “very dangerous.”

This internet business sector activist added: “Because according to statistics announced by the Secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, approximately two million and 500 thousand businesses in Iran are operating on this platform and conducting advertising and sales.”

He further stated that with many “offline” businesses entering Instagram following the coronavirus pandemic, this network has become “much more important than in previous years, and it appears that economic security will be undermined if this situation continues.”

According to Etemad newspaper, available statistics show that the share of online commerce has increased from 1.3 percent of the country’s total trade in 2017 to five percent in 2021.

This report indicates that apart from the high trust of Iranian users in Instagram, “WhatsApp has today become so popular and widespread that it has penetrated into the fabric of all economic activities” in Iran.

This is while the newspaper “Dunya-ye Eqtesad” has written that it appears Islamic Republic authorities intend to permanently block these two networks just as they did with Telegram.

Source: Radio Farda