Iraq has blocked Pavel Durov's Telegram, citing national security concerns. According to the country's telecoms ministry, it has blocked the Telegram messaging app, citing concerns over national security and to also preserve the integrity of users' personal data, which it said the Telegram app had mishandled, said a report by news agency Reuters. Apart from being a popular messaging platform in the country, Telegram is widely used to circulate news and other content.
This comes months after the messaging platform was suspended in Brazil which was later lifted.
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It is being said that many Telegram channels running in the country circulate large amounts of personal user data including the names, addresses and family ties of Iraqis. The ministry was quoted as saying in a statement that it has asked Telegram to close down "platforms that leak the data of the official state institutions and the personal data of citizens... but the company did not respond and did not interact with any of these requests."
The country's telecoms ministry added: "The Ministry of Communications affirms its respect for citizens' rights to freedom of expression and communication, without prejudice to the security of the state and its institutions.
It should be noted that Durov-backed Telegram is an instant messaging platform that offers end-to-end encrypted chats. This is similar to what we have seen its rivals Meta-owned WhatsApp and Signal doing as well. Telegram does not interfere with what its users share on the chat platform.
To recall, the ban on Telegram in Brazil was imposed in the wake of the country's battle with a wave of school attacks, including one in November in which a man with a swastika pinned to his vest shot and killed four people and wounded 12 in the small town of Aracruz in Espírito Santo state.