Iran's Messaging Crisis and Privacy Risks

In the midst of Iran's ongoing communication crisis, authorities are directing residents towards a controversial domestic messaging platform to maintain contact with overseas family members.

Since June 18, 2025, the country has experienced severe internet restrictions, effectively isolating millions from global communication networks. As the blackout continues into its fifth day, government officials have promoted a solution that raises serious privacy concerns.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Fars News Agency announced on June 20 that both domestic and international users could utilize the Bale application to bridge communication gaps during this disruption.

However, cybersecurity experts have previously identified significant vulnerabilities in this platform. Their analysis revealed that Bale lacks crucial end-to-end encryption protection—a standard security feature in most modern messaging applications.

More troublingly, investigations discovered that the app regularly transmits sensitive user information to central servers, potentially enabling surveillance activities. These findings have led many security researchers to categorize Bale as a potential monitoring tool rather than a secure communication option.

The government's promotion of this application during a period when citizens have few alternatives has sparked debate about digital rights and privacy protections during communication emergencies.

bale — Persian for "yes" — is an app created by a company linked to Iran's national bank that combines instant messaging, voice-over-IP calls, social features and integrated banking tools.

The developers assert that conversations on bale are protected with end-to-end encryption to keep chats private.

Official figures from Iran’s minister of communications and information technology put bale’s monthly active users at about 16.5 million as of May 2023.

Because of its rising user base, researchers from the Open Technology Fund conducted security audits of bale alongside two other Iranian platforms, eitaa and rubika.

Those assessments, carried out in December 2023 and October 2024, revealed multiple privacy and security weaknesses across the apps.

Users and observers are being urged to weigh the encryption claims and reported vulnerabilities when deciding whether to trust and use these services.

Iran’s clampdown on popular Western messaging services after the large 2022 protests appears to have pushed many users toward domestic apps such as Bale.

A security review examined Bale and two other Iran-developed messaging platforms and found all relied on client–server encryption rather than true end-to-end encryption (E2EE).

Auditors highlighted that Bale used an encryption method for credit card information that could be easily reversed, calling into question the strength of its protections.

The three apps were also able to exchange messages via a backend mechanism called the message exchange bus (MXB); researchers say MXB is state-owned.

Because no app enforced E2EE, servers handling messages could potentially access plaintext content, increasing the risk of surveillance.

Investigators reported instances of unexpected transmission of private data from the apps to backend systems.

Clicking links shared inside messages reportedly directs users through the apps’ backend servers, a flow that would let operators observe which sites users visit — a capability described as useful for censorship and monitoring.

Bale additionally sent location information to its server during the authentication process, according to the audit findings.

The Open Technology Fund’s researchers concluded by urging people to choose messaging tools that offer real E2EE, naming Signal (noting its anti-censorship proxy options), Session, and Wire as safer alternatives.

Iranian information-security analyst and women’s-rights campaigner Azam Jangrevi echoed these concerns, warning that the regime’s promotion of Bale — an app linked to the national bank — has long worried activists.

Jangrevi and other analysts point to possible spyware indicators in the app’s code, risks of remote access, and metadata collection targeted at politically or socially prominent users.

Given those threats, experts recommend avoiding Bale for sensitive conversations and switching to strongly encrypted services (or using WhatsApp over secure VPNs), while noting that connections and performance may vary.

Iran's Digital Communication Crisis

Iran's Digital Communication Crisis: Government Pushes Domestic App Amid Connectivity Challenges

In a concerning development for digital freedoms, Iranian authorities are actively promoting a domestic messaging application to citizens, despite previous security analyses identifying the platform as a potential surveillance tool for government monitoring.

This push comes during a period of significant internet disruption that began mid-June, leaving millions of Iranians with limited access to global communications platforms and information sources.

Network monitoring organizations report that connectivity has been extremely unstable, with brief windows of restoration quickly followed by renewed outages. Technical data indicates that these disruptions are widespread across the country, affecting both mobile and fixed-line services.

"The extended communication blackout is creating serious challenges for families trying to maintain contact and for individuals seeking reliable information," noted one digital rights advocate tracking the situation.

Simultaneously, government officials have instructed citizens to uninstall popular international messaging services, particularly WhatsApp, citing national security concerns. Authorities claim these platforms could potentially expose strategic information during heightened regional tensions.

The restrictions have triggered an unprecedented surge in virtual private network (VPN) adoption, with demand increasing by more than sevenfold as Iranians seek technological workarounds. However, reports indicate authorities are actively countering these circumvention tools, with many previously reliable VPN services now experiencing intermittent functionality issues.

Digital rights organizations have expressed alarm at these developments, viewing them as part of a broader pattern of increasing online controls. The promotion of government-approved communication tools raises significant privacy concerns, particularly given the documented history of domestic applications facilitating state surveillance.

This situation highlights the growing tensions between government control and digital rights in the region, as authorities expand technical measures to restrict independent communication channels while promoting alternatives that potentially compromise user privacy.

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