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Iraq blocks Telegram over security concerns

07 Aug 2023 12:05pm
Photo for illustrative purposes. - 123RF PIX
Photo for illustrative purposes. - 123RF PIX

CAIRO - Iraq said on Sunday it had blocked the instant messaging app Telegram due to national security concerns, German news agency (dpa) quoted local media reports.

Iraq’s state news agency INA quoted the country’s Ministry of Communication as saying that the app was blocked due to matters of "national security and to protect citizens’ personal data".

State authorities had unsuccessfully asked the company behind the messenger service to cooperate in blocking channels that spread official and personal data.

Telegram is very widespread in Iraq - even in parts of the government. INA has 260,000 subscribers there.

The app is also partly used by pro-Iranian militias. In some cases, the names or other private data of security forces, for example, were disseminated on Telegram, as was the case after violent riots in Iraq in autumn 2021.

The terrorist militia Islamic State, which once dominated large areas in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, also spreads messages via Telegram. - BERNAMA

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