Nepal orders telecom providers to ‘immediately’ block Telegram – Here’s why
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Nepal orders telecom providers to ‘immediately’ block Telegram – Here’s why")
Representative image. Photograph: (AFP)
Launched in 2013 by Russian-born brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, Telegram is a cloud-based messaging app. It is known for its strong encryption, privacy features, and support for large group chats and broadcast channels.
Nepal on Friday (Jul 18) announced the ban of the messaging app Telegram over a rise in online fraud and money laundering. According to a notice issued late afternoon by the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA), telecommunication service providers are ordered to block the application with immediate effect. It did not specify the number of such cases of online fraud and money laundering.
“As the number of online frauds through the Telegram App operating in Nepal is continuously increasing, and it has been understood that there is involvement in serious crimes such as money laundering, all relevant telecommunication service providers have been directed through this notice to immediately block/close access to the Telegram App,” the notice read.
Nepal is the latest country to ban the messaging app after Vietnam ordered similar restrictions on the app earlier in May. Telegram channels have been described as containing “poisonous and bad information” by Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology. It added that the messaging app, which offers encrypted messaging facility, had disseminated “antistate documents” and was involved in “reactionary activities.”
Telegram came under increased scrutiny in Nepal last year after it was revealed that it was used during the hacking of F1 Soft, the dominant online transaction software widely used by Nepali banks.
Launched in 2013 by Russian-born brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, Telegram is a cloud-based messaging app. It is known for its strong encryption, privacy features, and support for large group chats and broadcast channels. With over a billion users across the globe, the messaging app has been involved in several controversies related to security and data breach concerns.
In a similar move in November 2023, Nepal imposed a ban on the video-sharing app TikTok. However, the ban was lifted last year in August after the parent company, ByteDance, agreed to adhere to government regulations.
Trending Stories
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
