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Iran Bans State Bodies From Using Telegram App, Khamenei Shuts Account (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the my-way-or-highway dept.

Iran banned government bodies on Wednesday from using the popular Telegram instant messaging app as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office said his account would shut down to protect national security, Iranian media reported. From a report: ISNA news agency did not give a reason for the government ban on the service which lets people send encrypted messages and has an estimated 40 million users in the Islamic Republic. The order came days after Russia -- Iran's ally in the Syrian war -- started blocking the app in its territory following the company's repeated refusal to give Russian state security services access to users' secret messages. Iran's government banned "all state bodies from using the foreign messaging app," according to ISNA.

16 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. Glad all these countries are banning it by brucekeller · · Score: 1, Funny

    Because I didn't even know about it until then... now that you can pirate stuff on it too? I might just use it. Thanks Russia and Iran!

  2. Well, duh... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wikipedia tells me that Telegram doesn't have prophet in mind. Iranians must have been offended by that.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
    1. Re:Well, duh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Wikipedia tells me that Telegram doesn't have prophet in mind. Iranians must have been offended by that.

      Probably not very many Iranians.

      Just the utter fucking medieval nutcases in charge.

  3. Re:What Should Be Banned... by mschwanke97402 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...are the fucking ads on Slashdot that jank the screen up and down for 10 fucking seconds as the load.

    God Damned you Mother fucking Assholes.

    And if you were a nice person you’d have “Karma: Excellent” next to your handle and the option to “Disable Advertisng”. Whatever else you might say about Slashdot they are one of the few sites I’ve seen to offer that feature.

  4. I’m Impressed by mschwanke97402 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I’ve never been interested in the various “chat apps” like Twitter, Snapchat, etc. for privacy reasons but if Telegram has been kicked out of Russia and banned by the Iranians I think that I might have to give it a look.

    I can’t think of a better recommendation.

    1. Re: I’m Impressed by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      So, do you or do you not know that this certainly means that it's compromised by the NSA? You didn't reach that conclusion?

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  5. Best endorsement ever by tirnacopu · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Telegram couldn't have asked for better publicity than this. Not saying I would use their service myself (I trust Moxie Marlinspike's Signal more) but a headline like "neither Putin nor Khamenei have managed to break us" is pretty badass.
     

    1. Re:Best endorsement ever by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      What's up with uTox? Decentralized seems to be the way to go.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    2. Re: Best endorsement ever by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      It means the NSA has broken it, fool. They wouldn't be quitting it otherwise.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    3. Re:Best endorsement ever by quantic_oscillation7 · · Score: 1

      or maybe they did...

      and it serves them really well that sense of fase security.

  6. Makes sense by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 1

    Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office said his account would shut down to protect national security

    This surely must mean that he was leaking state secrets through the messaging app. So kill the app, don't touch the leaker...

    --
    Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
  7. Re:What Should Be Banned... by gtall · · Score: 1

    Yes, and at least for me, the Disable Advertising automatically disables itself after some unspecified period of time. What's up with that?

  8. Ayarollah knows! by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    We don't need no stinking First Amendment! Vlad knows what we should be permitted to see!

    Er, I mean Ayatollah knows!

    This is getting tiresome.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  9. Ha ! The real suspects ... by micahraleigh · · Score: 1

    If your stated goal is to reduce terrorism and you prohibit state workers, are you suggesting government workers are more likely to be terrorists?

  10. they could publicly refuse an FBI security letter by Uberbah · · Score: 1

    Russia and Iran are pikers next to the NSA/CIA/FBI elephants in the room.

    I can't think of a better recommendation.

    There was also Apple being willing to spend millions going to court when the FBI wanted to force them into cracking a dead suspect's iPhone.

  11. Re:they could publicly refuse an FBI security lett by mschwanke97402 · · Score: 1

    There was also Apple being willing to spend millions going to court when the FBI wanted to force them into cracking a dead suspect's iPhone.

    Agreed. I am posting from my iPad Pro right now.