Technology and Law Community “Masaar” documented the blocking of the Telegram website and application by the Egyptian authorities on 22 October 2020. The authorities blocked Telegram on three of the Internet service networks operating in Egypt. These networks included “We”, “Vodafone” and “Orange”. Masaar learned about the blocking action after complaints from several users of the Internet services on the three networks, stating that they cannot access the application or the website. It should be noted that Telegram is one of the most popular and widespread encrypted chat applications in the world.
Masaar confirms that users of the three networks: We (AS8452), Orange (AS24863) and Vodafone (AS36935) cannot use Telegram application on smartphones, as the Egyptian authorities have blocked access to IP addresses of the application.
The authorities also have blocked the Telegram website itself (telegram.org) and the version of Telegram used for desktop computers (web.telegram.org). Further, the blocking involved ADSL and mobile internet (4G / 3G).
It is noteworthy that last September “Masaar” had published a web page declaring that the authorities have blocked 596 websites and 32 alternative links since May 2017.