Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Iran's Telegram Fans Vow to Bypass App Ban with VPNs

by Michael Lipin

   Iranian social media users have dismissed a government ban on Telegram,
   a popular instant messaging service, saying they will use virtual
   private networks to continue accessing it.

   Most Iran-based callers to the Tuesday edition of [1]VOA Persian's
   Straight Talk call-in show said they already were using VPNs to access
   Telegram or planned to do so. They said they did not trust Iranian-made
   messaging apps that the government has been promoting, because they
   feared authorities would monitor communications on such services.

   Iran's judiciary ordered internet service providers to block all access
   to Telegram on Monday. In a statement, it said authorities wanted to
   stop "uncontrollable and illegal activity" on the app, which had around
   40 million users, accounting for half of the population, according to
   published reports. The judiciary also cited Telegram's role in helping
   to mobilize anti-government protests that swept Iran in late December
   and early January.

   'Support for ban

   One caller to Straight Talk, who identified himself as Qasem, calling
   from the southwestern province of Khuzestan, said he supported the
   Telegram ban because of what he said was its use for spreading
   pornography and immoral content.

   But other callers said they relied on Telegram to buy and sell goods. A
   man who gave his name as Sohrab, calling from the northeastern city of
   Sabzevar, said Telegram was his only business platform and he did not
   know what he would do without it.

   Some callers expressed concern about the difficulties of using Telegram
   through VPNs. They said doing so requires paying separate fees and
   results in slower data processing, making it harder to access news and
   watch videos of recent protests such as Tuesday's May Day rallies in
   several parts of Iran.

   Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's office released a Tuesday statement
   indirectly criticizing the judiciary for blocking Telegram, saying
   issues that concern tens of millions of Iranians "cannot be solely
   based upon a designation or decision made by judicial authorities."

   But the statement made no direct references to Telegram or whether the
   ban would be lifted. Preserving access to major social media platforms
   was one of Rouhani's campaign pledges before winning re-election last
   year.

   This report was produced in collaboration with [2]VOA's Persian
   service.

   Michael covers international news for VOA on the web, radio and TV,
   specializing in the Middle East and East Asia Pacific. Follow him on
   Twitter [3]@Michael_Lipin

References

   1. https://ir.voanews.com/a/4372678.html
   2. https://ir.voanews.com/
   3. https://twitter.com/Michael_Lipin