New Internet Order (Iranians STILL Don't have Internet)
A couple of days ago, I finally installed "Bale." For those who aren't familiar with the online sphere in Iran, this app is like WhatsApp/Telegram, but with direct state control over the data cycle and every tiny little message sent by the users. Assuming the whole concept of "end-to-end encryption" has been thrown in the toilet by recent efforts from Zuckerberg and co, not having a secure channel doesn't seem to be a problem unique to Iranians. However, the problem with Bale's case is that the Islamic Republic isn't the most benevolent and progressive regime when it comes to the freedom of speech, and the app itself looks like a cheap knockoff of Telegram, which, in my opinion, is by far the best messenger on the planet (except for the lack of restrictions on certain types of illegal content). Correspondingly, the recent internet shutdown in Iran has been more severe than any other blockage I can remember. Access to the internet has turned into a privilege for certain social classes that "have the money" to buy expensive VPNs, and those from lower classes are completely cut off from the internet.
Iran's economy, on the other hand, has been fully reliant on the internet. In the last two decades, many businesses have shifted their focus from offline to an online environment, utilizing Instagram and Telegram's medium for marketing, advertising, and sales. I'm not an economist, but it's quite clear to any normal human being with an average level of IQ that forcing a whole nation to deviate from foreign apps to local alternatives that nobody trusts in the first place, in the span of days, is not a wise choice and can lead to a total disaster, but yet again, you have people in the highest ranks of power with no sense of logic nor care about the damage that they are doing to any career.
Regardless, using Bale is currently the only available option to contact some of my friends and family members. Between my privacy on the app and having any sort of connection with those I care about, I preferred to get along with the former and bear the humbling experience of losing the battle with the regime in this area.