The leader of Iran's Cyber Police (FATA) , Brigadier-General Kamal Hadianfar has asked Iranian citizens to stop using the secure messaging application Telegram immediately!
Hadianfar says Iranians should stop using Telegram due to "security" reasons; what he really means is that FATA cannot control Telegram because servers are not hosted in Iran! Hadianfar said that, "People expressed concern over the usage presence of Telegram messaging app". Presumably he means that FATA and the wider Iranian regime are more concerned! As an Iranian ex-patriate or as a citizen still living in Iran, I doubt I would find any Iranian citizen who would agree with Hadianfar.
Citizens may be perhaps more concerned that Telegram was written and is supported by the Russian Durov brothers and one may say (if paranoid) that perhaps the Russian state could be behind Telegram? Russia is *allegedly* helping Iranian cyber efforts anyway, so perhaps this is a disinformation campaign by FATA to actually encourage Iranians to keep using Telegram?! Perhaps I am giving too much credence to FATA; in reality they cannot control Iranians from using Telegram any more that Iran's filternet stopped Iranians from accessing certain content on the Internet.
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| Brigadier-General Kamal Hadianfar looking concerned |
The Brigadier-General, the man with the finger on the pulse of all things Iranian cyber in nature, went on to say that, "Foreigners take advantage of the information uploaded on this server. In fact, the main Telegram admin does not have a serious determination to confront social, cultural and moral crimes".
Perhaps this says it all: FATA are having real problems trying to control the digital youth of Iran.
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