Brazilian Court Suspends Telegram Messenger, Increases Daily Fine
The Brazilian court has suspended the operation of Telegram messenger and increased the daily fine to 1 million reactions (16.1 million rubles) for its refusal to provide the police with required information. According to the Brazilian intelligence department, the letter to block Telegram has also been sent to Vivo, Claro, Tim, OI, Google and Apple, responsible for the PlayStore and App Store app stores.
The court’s decision is linked to the police’s request for data, including details of the administrators and members of neo-Nazi groups allegedly linked to an attack on a school in Arakrus. Telegram is believed to have hosted anti-Semitic groups that recruited teenagers for violent attacks on schools. The investigation revealed that the 16-year-old shooter interacted with anti-Semitic groups on Telegram, which promoted neo-Nazi ideology and published a video on the manufacturing of explosive devices.
According to the Minister of Justice Flavio Dino, anti-Semitic content can be found among Telegram groups located in San Paulo and Goyas. Telegram ranks top among the most popular applications in Brazil, followed by WhatsApp and Facebook, according to SimilarWeb.
It is worth noting that META and its products are recognized as extremist, and their activities are banned in the Russian Federation.