TechDirt reports that Russia and Iran have both used terrorism as a cover reason for silencing the Telegram app, when anonymous political dissent is what the countries are really trying to shut down. In Iran, the political leaders have unleashed their own messaging program Soroush, promoted by the government with a “Death to America” emoji and “stickers” with messages supporting Iran’s leadership. In Iran, though, things are complicated. On April 30, the country's Culture and Media court ordered telecoms companies to block the Telegram app from its country's 40 million users. The next day Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said both that his government did not block Telegram and that he did not approve of the thing his government did not do. "If a decision has been made to restrict or block the communication of the people, the real owners of this country, which are the people, should be included in making such decisions," Rouhani said.