content and Thematic analysis of the "substitution policy" of domestic messengers instead of Telegram in Iran

The writers of this paper aiming to further understanding of the policy making of virtual space in Iran attempt to address this question: what are the social and political meanings consequences of the policy of substituting Telegram messenger by local messenger applications in Iran”? Our investigative results indicate that the policy of “requesting permission” that is originally adopted by the Iranian Press law, is also an ideal end from the viewpoint of the policy making system in Iran. Indeed, the policy of filtering and the aim of the exit of government issues, education, and business services from Telegram, and shifting these activities towards one local application, is something that is planned and implemented by the Iranian policy makers. In addition, supporting and developing local messenger applications, framed by detersive technical, institutional, infrastructural, franchised, and loan granting, in accordance with the policy of localizing virtual space applications, are preferred and followed by the policy makers in the area of virtual space. From the viewpoints of the Iranian virtual space policy makers, the execution of localizing virtual space applications, is faced by some negative consequences, including the prevalence of the usage of anti-filters, and some very important problems, such as institutional, technical, and social challenges of public trust, private sphere, information security, and government intrusion , considering the point that the importance of each challenge is not the same among all the Iranian virtual space policy makers.