Telegram App Resumes Use in Iraq
After facing backlash from pro-Iran factions, the Iraqi government decided to lift the week-long ban on the Telegram messaging app, citing “national security” concerns.
By Sunday morning, the app was available again without a virtual private network (VPN), AFP reporters in Baghdad said.
On Saturday evening, the Iraqi Ministry of Communications had announced “the lifting of the freeze on Telegram from tomorrow, Sunday”.
Telegram is very popular in Iraq, and is especially used as a propaganda platform for groups associated with armed groups and pro-Iranian political parties.
A coalition of Iran-aligned Shiite Muslim parties controls the Iraqi parliament and supports Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudan.
When it suspended the app, the government said Telegram “failed to respond” to repeated requests to address “information leakage from government institutions and individuals, which threatens national security and social peace.”
In a new statement, the ministry said the app’s managers have responded “to the demands of the authorities by detecting the individuals who disclosed citizens’ information and expressing their full readiness to communicate with the relevant authorities.”
Responding to criticism on Iraq’s Telegram channel that the suspension was a restriction on freedom of expression, the ministry said it was “not against freedom of expression.”
However, it urged app managers to “respect the law, security and user data”.
After decades of conflict, Iraq has achieved relative stability, but human rights organizations regularly criticize the authorities for the level of freedom of expression.
The country ranks 167 out of 180 in Reporters Without Borders’ 2023 press freedom index.
Telegram has previously been blocked in some other countries.
