Telegram did not disclose user information, it was filtered
08 May 1402 at 15:20
After Telegram refused to provide the contact information of a group with neo-Nazi content to the Brazilian government, a court in this country ordered the suspension of this messenger and Telegram was filtered in Brazil.
A Brazilian court on Wednesday blocked Telegram for failing to comply with an order linked to neo-Nazi groups and ordered Brazilian telecommunications companies to remove the messenger from their platforms.
Federal police sought an order to filter Telegram in Brazil after it failed to comply with an earlier court order to hand over information about two neo-Nazi groups accused of inciting violence in schools.
The order to suspend this encrypted messenger application is temporary and the filter will be removed when Telegram complies with the information sharing order in this country. According to Brazilian authorities, Telegram provided some of the information requested by the government, but refused to provide the phone numbers of members of the group, which has neo-Nazi content.
Telegram filter in Brazil
The Telegram filter decision in Brazil was made by Judge Wellington Lopes da Silva in a court in the state of Espirito Santo. Flavio Dino, Minister of Justice of Brazil, said: “The court has fined Telegram messenger for non-cooperation with the government to pay 198,000 dollars a day and has temporarily suspended Telegram’s activities in Brazil.”
According to the judge’s ruling, telecommunications companies in the country must stop accessing this messaging service and downloading the application. Local media reported that the federal police requested the contacts of the administrators and members, as well as the phone numbers of the users of those groups.
According to available reports, Telegram partially complied with the Brazilian government’s request by sending limited information last Friday. Telegram bills itself as a messaging app focused on speed and privacy, and says its secret chats use end-to-end encryption that isn’t stored on the app’s servers.
Telegram filter in Brazil
The police request to end Telegram’s secrecy about the groups came as part of an investigation into extremist attacks on Brazilian schools. This request of the Brazilian government from Telegram was made after a 16-year-old teenager shot dead four people and wounded people in two schools.
According to the investigation, this 16-year-old teenager published anti-Semitic content in Telegram groups, was engaged in spreading hatred, taught murder and making hand grenades, and was promoting neo-Nazi ideals.
Telegram did not respond to the Brazilian government’s request, resulting in a Supreme Court judge ordering Telegram to be filtered in Brazil, arguing that Telegram had repeatedly refused to comply with court orders to block accounts of fake news publishers and failed to comply with Brazilian law.