Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 11
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Almost 60 percent of Iran’s internet bandwidth usage accounts for the messaging app Telegram, Mohammad Hassan Entezari, a member of Iran's Supreme Council of Cyberspace, said.
The figure is significantly high and officials should pay attention to that, Entezari said, Nasim news agency reported Aug. 11.
He further expressed concern over transfer of Iranian users’ data to foreigners via foreign messaging apps that are not under control of the Iranian administration.
Iran says mobile social networking applications, including the popular messaging app Telegram, should move their servers processing Iranian users’ data to Iran if they seek to continue their operation in the country.
The Islamic Republic has frequently requested from Telegram to move its servers into Iran.
Telegram, a messaging and content sharing app, has recently become popular among Iranians, who use it to communicate with each other and also share materials like pornography and political satire.
Many of Iran’s state-run news agencies have also embraced the platform, using it to advertise their stories.
Currently, at least 22 million Iranians use Telegram, according to the country's Supreme Council of Cyberspace.
According to Mehr news agency some 80.5 percent of Telegram users are Iranians.