Telegram is no longer blocked in Brazil: that’s how it is

Telegram was unavailable in Brazil for a few days, but the block has now been lifted. Brazilians can Telegram again, because the court has ruled that internet providers had to remove the blockade. But, why was it actually blocked?

Telegram in Brazil

In March we also wrote about Brazil and Telegram, because that’s when it all started. A Supreme Court judge called for a blockade. It was finally blocked on Thursday this week because the organization behind the app did not want to share data about neo-Nazi groups with the Brazilian police. It did not want to provide personal information such as addresses, but also bank account numbers.

The advantage of Telegram is that it is very free, but that is sometimes also the disadvantage. There are anti-Semitic groups active on Telegram. Following a shooting, the police wanted some data from Telegram. For example, it hopes to learn more about how the 16-year-old boy who killed three people at two schools came to his act. He would have been a member of such extremist channels.

Related articles

Dangerous channels

These are channels where dangerous information is often shared, such as how to assemble a bomb, in addition to the fact that people can incite each other enormously in these types of online places. That is bad, but to completely block Telegram is contrary to the freedom of communication, the judge believes. It mainly wants to stand up for people who get pleasure and value from the app. There is a fine in force: Telegram has to pay about 180,000 euros every day that it does not provide the data of the neo-Nazi groups.

Telegram, in turn, says it’s technically not possible to share that data at all. It has also never shared user data with a government before, as doing so would violate what Telegram stands for: the protection of privacy and freedom of expression.

What do you think, should an app provide data to the authorities in this type of criminal practice or not? Leave it now in the comments.