Telegram users should take note that Indonesia has banned the instant messaging service. The Indonesian government said that it was concerned that the app was being used to spread “radical and terrorist propaganda” in the country.
It’s no secret that Telegram is preferred messaging apps among muslim extremists. Security officials have said that they believe Telegram was used to plan several terrorist attacks in Indonesia, including two suicide bombing attacks on a bus station in May.
“This has to be done because there are many channels on this service that are full of radical and terrorist propaganda, hatred, ways to make bombs, how to carry out attacks, disturbing images, which are all in conflict with Indonesian law,” the communications ministry said in a statement on its website.
The secure nature of Telegram’s encryption provides extremists with the opportunity to communicate and coordinate without being monitored. Despite this, Telegram has been known to cooperate with law enforcement to shut down lines of communication that have been suspected of spreading terrorist propaganda.
Indonesia is not the first country to block selected instant messaging apps. China has a blanket ban on most instant messaging that it doesn’t control, while Turkey has been implementing temporary bans on all social media for the last year or so.
[Source: Kompas]
