BEIRUT: Human Rights Watch on Wednesday hit back at Iran’s “unjustifiable” decision to ban the Telegram messaging app, warning Tehran against stifling access to information.
“The Iranian judiciary’s blocking of the messaging application Telegram is an unjustifiable restriction on freedom of expression and access to information,” the US-based rights organization said in a statement.
Human Rights Watch accused Tehran of “stifling access to information to try to make its problems go away” and said such censorship “should never be used to protect leaders from scrutiny.”
A Tehran judge blocked Telegram on Monday, following accusations that the hugely popular app has allowed armed opposition groups to fuel unrest.
The decision was described as “just another stain on Iranian authorities’ already dismal record on freedom of expression” by Human Rights Watch.
Telegram is the Islamic republic’s most popular social network with some 40 million users, around half the population.
The move to ban the app has highlighted differences of opinion between the government of reformist President Hassan Rouhani and ultra-conservatives who control the judiciary and security services.
Reflecting the government’s support of more open access to the Internet, telecoms minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi on Tuesday highlighted problems in Russia since authorities there banned Telegram.
“These problems could happen in Iran as well,” he said, quoted by the ISNA news agency, after thousands rallied in Moscow on Monday in support of Internet freedom.
Despite Telegram being blocked, the app was still easily accessible in Tehran on Wednesday.
HRW slams Iran’s banning of Telegram as ‘unjustifiable’
HRW slams Iran’s banning of Telegram as ‘unjustifiable’
- There are more than 40 million users of the Telegram app in Iran
- The move to ban the app has highlighted differences of opinion between the government of reformist President Hassan Rouhani and ultra-conservatives who control the judiciary and security services
Paris exhibition marks 200 years of Le Figaro and the enduring power of the press
- The exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive
PARIS: One of France’s most influential newspapers marked a major milestone this month with a landmark exhibition beneath the soaring glass nave of the Grand Palais, tracing two centuries of journalism, literature and political debate.
Titled 1826–2026: 200 years of freedom, the exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive. Held over three days in mid-January, the free exhibition drew large crowds eager to explore how the title has both chronicled and shaped modern French history.
More than 300 original items were displayed, including historic front pages, photographs, illustrations and handwritten manuscripts. Together, they charted Le Figaro’s evolution from a 19th-century satirical publication into a leading national daily, reflecting eras of revolution, war, cultural change and technological disruption.
The exhibition unfolded across a series of thematic spaces, guiding visitors through defining moments in the paper’s past — from its literary golden age to its role in political debate and its transition into the digital era. Particular attention was paid to the newspaper’s long association with prominent writers and intellectuals, underscoring the close relationship between journalism and cultural life in France.
Beyond the displays, the program extended into live journalism. Public editorial meetings, panel discussions and film screenings invited audiences to engage directly with editors, writers and media figures, turning the exhibition into a forum for debate about the future of the press and freedom of expression.
Hosted at the Grand Palais, the setting itself reinforced the exhibition’s ambition: to place journalism firmly within the country’s cultural heritage. While the exhibition has now concluded, the bicentennial celebrations continue through special publications and broadcasts, reaffirming Le Figaro’s place in France’s public life — and the enduring relevance of a free and questioning press in an age of rapid change.
