Iran has had issues with the Internet in the past, and this time around, the world of text messages has been affected by Iranian policies as well. With the Iranian currency (rial) dropping to a new record low against the US dollar today, shedding nearly 8% in its value, it seems that the word “dollar” is now officially banned across mobile phone text services, as well as select Exchange websites.
Of course, not only the word “dollar” in English is censored, but a similar meaning in Farsi also got hit by the government’s banhammer, meaning such a message will not be received as intended. In Farsi, the word for “foreign money” was given the chop, but since there is no way to wield a blanket ban, there are methods to get around the situation such as using the word “USD” or taking advantage of the $ symbol. Iran’s two main mobile phone service providers, MCI and Irancell, stepped forward to say that they are not the ones behind the filtering, rightfully washing their hands off this “responsibility”.