The Iranian government said it was to stop using the popular messaging app Telegram “in line with safeguarding national interests”. Instead it will promote home-grown alternatives. Whether the move has any impact is doubtful, given that an official ban on other social media platforms such as Twitter has been routinely flouted by everyone from Rahbar (Supreme Leader) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – whose 9,000-plus tweets have attracted 478,000 ‘followers’ on his page – and President Hassan Rouhani down.
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