The Iranian government’s attempt to block the messaging app Telegram in the country backfired as users found ways to bypass national firewalls and online controls, according to Pavel Durov, co-founder of Telegram.
“Iran banned Telegram years ago,” Durov said Friday; However, tens of millions of users in the country have managed to access the app through virtual private networks (VPNs) and other similar tools, he added.
VPN route web traffic through servers distributed worldwide to mask users’ real Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and hide their locations. This allows people with VPN access to bypass national restrictions online. Durov said:
“The government hoped for mass adoption of its surveillance messaging apps, but instead achieved mass adoption of VPNs. Today, 50 million members of the digital resistance in Iran are joined by more than 50 million more in Russia.”
Decentralized technologies like blockchain, crypto and encrypted messaging apps can alleviate or neutralize online restrictions and state-imposed surveillance infrastructure, thereby promoting individual freedom, proponents of decentralized technology say.
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Users turn to decentralized alternatives during internet outages
The Iranian government imposed a nationwide internet outage in January 2026, amid growing protests and ongoing civil unrest due to the ongoing war between Israel, the United States and Iran.
Residents of the country can still access the Internet through Starlink, a satellite network, despite the government ban, or communicate through BitChat, a messaging app that uses Bluetooth radio waves to form a mesh network between devices.
BitChat’s mesh network turns each device into a relay node that transfers data to other devices running the application within range, bypassing online and satellite systems entirely.
The government of Nepal imposed a ban on social media in September 2025 amid growing protests, prompting a spike in BitChat downloads.
Bitchat was downloaded more than 48,000 times in Nepal the week of the social media ban, and Nepal’s government was overthrown by protesters that same month.
The app recorded a similar result download peak in Madagascar amid the protests, which also took place around the same time as the political revolution in Nepal.
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