Brazilian judge ordered to block the messaging platform. Telegram on the grounds that it “does not cooperate” with the authorities to investigate a neo-Nazi group on its service.
The ruling was given by the judge of first instance Wellington Lopes da Silva, of the state of Espírito Santo, giving this sanction as of Wednesday night.
The case
The Federal Police is investigating neo-Nazi groups that coordinate their actions through the internet to propitiate violent events in schools.
The agents requested the data of the members of the groups located to. Telegram and, although the company shared some information, it did not give out the phone numbers of the administrators.
“Telegram simply refused to hand over the requested data under the generic allegation that the group had already been deleted,” the magistrate said.
The specific case dates back to November, where a 16-year-old teenager killed 4 children and left 12 wounded. The killing at the Aracruz school may have been influenced by neo-Nazi communities in Telegramas the author was wearing camouflage clothing and had a swastika on his arm.
In addition, “murder tutorials, videos of killings and even manuals for making explosives” were shared in such groups.
Currently, the cases have returned, with 13-year-olds killing their female teachers.
Telegram sanction
At the moment, the judge is notifying the operators Vivo, Claro, Tim and Oi, in addition to those responsible for the app stores such as Google and Apple, to suspend the service from Telegram in the country.
The app will also receive a penalty of R$1 million (US$198 thousand) for each day it fails to share the required data with the justice system.
The temporary suspension of Telegram shall be complied with until the entrusted information is delivered.
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