Iraq bans Telegram

Sara Rashad

The Iraqi Ministry of Communications decided on August 6 to block the social networking application, Telegram.

It said it took the decision for reasons related to Iraq’s national security.

Telegram is one of the most prominent applications in the past period. However, it raised controversy in the wake of the 2011 events in the region.

The application was widely used by extremists. There were also repeated incidents of user data leaking.

In a press release, the Iraqi Ministry of Communications said its blockage of Telegram is based on directives by what it described as ‘higher authorities’.

It added that the decision was founded on national security considerations.

The same decision, it said, also aims to preserve the personal data of citizens.

The ministry accused the application, meanwhile, of making violations of the law.

Concerned state institutions, the ministry said, have contacted the company managing the application more than once, and asked it to cooperate in closing platforms involved in leaking the data of official state institutions and the personal data of citizens.

The Iraqi institutions concerned justified their request by noting that the leaking of information threatens Iraqi national security and societal peace.

American intervention or moral reasons

Iraqi researcher, Hesham al-Ali, said mysteries surround the political reasons behind the suspension of Telegram in Iraq.

Some bloggers, he added, believe the closure of the application came as a result of a political decision.

He told The Reference that this political decision was made by the American embassy in Iraq.

“It is known that Telegram is a Russian application that allows the publication of materials banned by other programmes, such as Meta and Instagram,” al-Ali said.

He explained that some people believe that Telegram has become a tool for leaking personal information belonging to citizens in Iraq.

This, he said, makes it easier for terrorists to easily collect sensitive information.

Al-Ali pointed out that other people attribute the decision of the Iraqi ministry to the fact that the current Minister of Communications, Hiam al-Yasiri, has an Islamic orientation and has previously blocked porn sites.

“This may explain her reservations on Telegram,” al-Ali said.