Iraq scraps Telegram ban after chat platform promises

Iraq lifted its ban on chat service Telegram on Sunday. The country banned the chat platform last week over security concerns. Telegram is said to have taken offline some channels in which personal data of Iraqis was shared.

Iraq’s telecom ministry says it has lifted the ban on Telegram. The ministry said it did this because of ‘Telegram’s response’ to the demands made by the country. Iraq last week demanded that Telegram close certain channels that share the personal data of officials and citizens, writes Reuters. The country would also have asked to reveal ‘the entities’ behind those channels, the news agency reports.

Telegram said in a statement to Reuters that the company has not shared user data with Iraq. A spokesperson for the platform emphasizes that sharing personal data on Telegram is prohibited according to the terms and conditions. “We can confirm that our moderators have removed several channels containing personal data. However, we can also confirm that no private user data was requested from Telegram and none was shared,” the company said.

Iraq imposed a ban on Telegram last week. The chat platform is widely used as a messaging service, but also to spread news. According to Iraq, some channels contain large amounts of personal data, including the names, addresses and family ties of Iraqis. Iraq said last week that Telegram had not responded to the country’s requests.