Telegram says will challenge suspension by Brazilian court

Representative image

Telegram has said that it will appeal an April 26 decision by a Brazilian court that suspended the instant messaging service in the South American country and also slapped a huge fine for failing to comply with its order on neo-Nazi groups.

The court also imposed a fine of a million reais (around Rs 1.6 crore) a day for failing to share the data of neo-Nazi groups, being pursued by the government, operating on the network.

Also Read | How a former hotel staff and two automobile diploma holders ran a massive Telegram pump-and-dump scheme

As reported by Agene France Presse, Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov said the company would appeal the decision since the data was technologically impossible for them "to obtain".

Brazil's justice minister Flavio Dino said that the reason for Telegram's ban was antisemitic groups operating within the network who were responsible for violence against the country's children.

Youth violence is a major problem in the country. In 2023, four children were killed by an unknown man carrying a hatchet in a school's premises. In the same week, two non-fatal but violent incidents were also reported.

Earlier this year, a 13-year-old stabbed a teacher to death. In late 2022, a 16-year-old shot and killed four people and injured more than 10 in an attack on two schools.

Also Read | Sebi order against ‘dubious’ Telegram channels is an eyeopener

According to the Brazilian Federal Justice Authority, investigators had asked Telegram for data on two members of antisemitic groups on the platform.

Telegram only gave authorities personal data of one administrator in one of the groups, prompting the authority to say that there was, "intent by Telegram not to cooperate with the ongoing investigation".