Iran joins Russia as the second country to ban Telegram

Yesterday was definitely not a good day for Telegram since the popular encrypted messaging service has just been taken down in Iran — the second large country to do so, less than a month after the Russian government decided to do the same.

According to Reuters, the Iranian state television announced yesterday that the country's judiciary banned the use of this popular service "to protect national security." The same source also quoted the Iranian state television detailing the reasoning behind this decision as it follows: "Considering various complaints against the Telegram social networking app by Iranian citizens, and based on the demand of security organizations to confront the illegal activities of Telegram, the judiciary has banned its usage in Iran."

Back in January, when Iranian people in around 80 cities protested against the clerical and security elite of the Islamic Republic — after it all started as a protest over various economic issues — Telegram was temporarily blocked. Now, it looks like its former users should try to find other similar service. Maybe Signal would be a good idea — if it hasn't been blocked in the country yet, of course. After all, the local Soroush app that features female emojis covered with black headscarves and who carry signs saying “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” definitely does not look like a piece of code that someone fighting against the radical government would be willing to use.

Are you a Telegram user? If the service gets blocked for one reason or another, what would you use to replace it?