- By Vikas Yadav
- Sun, 13 Aug 2023 12:34 PM (IST)
- Source:REUTERS
The telecom ministry of Iraq is all set to lift the ban on the messaging app Telegram after about a week. On Sunday, the department informed about the update in a statement. The ban was imposed citing security and personal data concerns of the state institutions and residents.
Besides serving as a communication service and media-sharing platform, the app is also a source of news content for Iraqis. However, according to Reuters, some channels on Telegram have personal details such as name, address and family ties of a large number of people in Iraq.
Sharing an update, the ministry added that the decision came once "the company that owns the platform responded to the requirements of the security authorities that called on the company to disclose the entities that leaked citizens' data." Telegram also "expressed its full readiness to communicate with the relevant authorities...," the statement said.
What did Telegram say?
"Posting private data without consent is forbidden by Telegram's terms of service and such content is routinely removed by our moderators," a Telegram spokesperson told Reuters. "We can confirm that our moderators took down several channels sharing personal data. However, we can also confirm that no private user data was requested from Telegram and that none has been shared," the press team member added.
In a previous statement, the telecom ministry said it asked the app to shut "platforms that leak the data of the official state institutions and the personal data of citizens... but the company did not respond and did not interact with any of these requests."
For context, the cloud-based platform, with 700 million+ monthly active users, is among the top five most downloaded apps across the globe. According to the FAQs on the website, "Telegram is more secure than mass market messengers like WhatsApp and Line." It has two layers of secure encryption.
With inputs from Reuters
