The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported on August 9 that the Cyber Police of Iran (FATA) have arrested some Telegram administrators.
According to FATA's legal and international deputy, Hossein Ramazani, "Recently, the cyber police were informed of four Telegram channels that published insulting materials against religious topics. After liaison with Judiciary officials, measures were taken immediately to identify and arrest these people".
On August 9, Ramazani continued, "The cyber police detectives found out that the administrators of these channels were in Iran. The four channels were immediately blocked, and the main administrator of the channels and one of his aides were arrested yesterday".
Colonel Hossein Ramazani stated that three people were responsible for updating the Telegram channels and that the arrested administrators were from a city in Northern Iran.
FATA say that the administrators had published "blasphemous" pictures and materials against religious sacred things and leaders by using Photoshop or other editing softwares.
Cyber Police corruption
While it is possible that such blasphemy was committed, it is equally (and perhaps more so) likely that FATA had been monitoring accounts it previous gained access to (see my previous article here)and perhaps planted such blasphemy themselves to then use as evidence in the arrests? It would not be beyond them as they try in vain to control the youth of Iran.
It is thankful that Telegram do not host their servers in Iran and my fellow Iranians can still use Telegram, much to FATA's frustration. It is best to enable 2FA (Two factor authentication) for Telegram, and to have private, not public channels where possible which will help defeat FATA. Also, do not always trust who you are speaking with in channels: they may well be FATA...
