A Brazilian court on Wednesday ordered the nationwide suspension of messaging app Telegram.
Brasilia:
A Brazilian court on Wednesday ordered a nationwide suspension of messaging app Telegram after its parent company failed to provide data sought by authorities on neo-Nazis operating on the network, officials said.
In the framework of an investigation into neo-Nazi activity on the social network, the court fined Telegram one million reais (about $198,000) per day for “non-compliance” and ordered a temporary suspension of “(its) activities, Justice Minister Flavio Dino said in a video sent to reporters.
“There are groups called ‘Anti-Semitic Front’ and ‘Anti-Semitic Movement’ operating in those networks, and we know that this is at the root of the violence against our children,” he said in reference to the recent attacks. ” in schools.
Earlier this month, a man carrying an ax killed four children aged between four and seven at their school in the same week as two other, non-fatal school attacks.
Last month, a 13-year-old boy killed a teacher at a Sao Paulo school in a knife attack.
And last November, a 16-year-old shooter killed four people and wounded 10 more in twin attacks on two schools in Aracruz, in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo.
The G1 news portal quoted police sources as saying that the teenager had allegedly communicated with anti-Semitic groups on Telegram.
According to a document from the Federal Justice Authority in Espirito Santo, investigators had asked Telegram for personal data of members of two alleged anti-Semitic groups on the platform.
The document states that the company only provided data about one group’s administrator, adding that “Telegram’s intention was not to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)