The Supreme Council for Cyberspace in Iran, headed by Hassan Rouhani, has given online messaging networks one year to move their servers to Iran.
Telegram is not mentioned in this resolution, which was approved on Saturday, June 28, but since Telegram is currently the most widely used mobile messenger in Iran, it is believed that the Supreme Council of Cyberspace's main purpose is this network.
Telegram is the main online messaging network in both Iran and Uzbekistan. Mehr News Agency says that the network is so popular in Iran that it uses 12 percent of the country's internet bandwidth and reportedly has more than 20 million users in Iran.
Popular with the people and desirable to the government
Many political figures, media outlets, and institutions have channels on Telegram that you can join to stay up to date with their views and news. The Telegram channel, which is affiliated with the office of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, has more than 350,000 subscribers, and several pieces of news, photos, or videos about the Iranian leader are shared there every day.
There are also plenty of entertainment, joke, and humor channels that Iranians love, and one of them, called “Bdandid,” has more than a million members. Goods and merchandise are bought and sold through this messenger, and there is even a channel where users post their requests for rare medicines and ask sellers for help.
With one easy move and in three seconds, you can share news, photos, and videos on Telegram with your friends and family.
At one time, Viber was the most popular messaging app in Iran, and after this messaging network was filtered and slowed down, everyone switched to Telegram.
Source: BBC Persian
