Justice on Wednesday ordered the suspension of Telegram throughout Brazil, the online messaging system having failed to provide authorities with data on neo-Nazi groups active on the platform, we learned from government and judicial sources.
As part of an investigation “on neo-Nazi groups present on social networks, (…) justice ordered the suspension of Telegram, considering that this network had not responded to its requests”, declared during a press conference the Minister of Justice, Flavio Dino.
Social media control
“We know that (the messages broadcast by these groups on the networks) produce violence” in the school environment, he added, an allusion to the recent wave of deadly attacks in schools.
During one of these attacks, on April 5, in Blumenau (south), a man killed four children with an ax in a nursery, arousing great emotion throughout the country. The government then took a series of measures to regulate and control social networks.
In its judgment published on Wednesday, the Federal Court of the State of Espirito Santo (south-east) recalls that the Federal Police had asked Telegram to provide it with the personal data of all the members of messaging groups entitled “Anti-Semitic Movement Brazilian” and “Anti-Semitic Front”, but that this request had only been “partially” satisfied.
Links between a suspect and anti-Semitic groups
According to the G1 news site, investigators have discovered that a 16-year-old teenager who in November 2022 shot and killed four people (three teachers and a 12-year-old student) at a school in Aracruz, Espirito Santo , was in contact with anti-Semitic groups on Telegram.
“It is clear that Telegram is not cooperating with the ongoing investigation”, concludes the court ruling, whose fine of one million reais (180,000 euros) per day will remain in force until the requested data be provided to the police.
In March 2022, a Supreme Court judge had already threatened to block Telegram in Brazil, for “non-compliance with judicial orders”, in particular the request to suspend the account of Allan dos Santos, a blogger who supports the former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro under investigation for disinformation.