Brazil’s federal court has ordered the nationwide suspension of the messaging app Telegram for refusing to cooperate with the federal police in the fight against neo-Nazi groups. The information was released this Wednesday in Brasilia by Brazil’s Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flavio Dino.
Dino specified that in the coming hours, telephony operators and app stores will be called to block Telegram and that they themselves could be punished if they do not comply with this determination. In addition to suspending operations in Brazil, Telegram has been sentenced to a daily fine of 181,000 euros until it provides the Brazilian authorities with all the requested data.
The federal police have asked Telegram for details on the individuals responsible for the Nazi-supporting accounts on the platform and who may have been behind the attack on a school in the state of Espírito Santo, where a 16-year-old teenager killed four people. one person or more are injured. de 10. Telegram sent only part of the requested data, however, not accepting reports to the police about the identities and contact details of the persons responsible for the accounts.
After a series of frightening attacks on schools and kindergartens that claimed several lives, the Brazilian government launched a real war a few weeks ago against publications that incite hatred and, above all, can incite extremists to massacres in schools. The decision has faced non-cooperation by some platforms, mainly Telegram and Twitter, which claim their autonomy and freedom of expression are being curtailed.
The Congress in Brazil will vote next week on a bill that creates mechanisms for partial control and punishment of social networks and other platforms. Under the current project, social networks and internet platforms are jointly responsible for the content they publish, and both they and their managers can be punished and even expelled from the country if they insist on broadcasting content that encourages hatred and violence.
Author: Domingos Grilo Serrinha This Correspondent in Brazil
Source: CM Jornal
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