A Brazilian judge overturns the decision to suspend the use of the Telegram platform

A Brazilian judge on Saturday annulled a decision to suspend the use of the Telegram platform in this country, which was issued earlier this week, after the company that owned it refused to provide data requested by the authorities as part of an investigation of the activity of neo-Nazi groups on the application.

The judge considered the nationwide suspension decision to be “unreasonable,” as it affects “the freedom of communication of thousands of people unrelated to the facts being investigated,” the Rio de Janeiro-based Federal Regional Court-2 said in a statement.

However, the judge maintained a daily fine of one million riyals ($198,000) that had been imposed for failing to provide the required information.

The Federal Police and the Brazilian Public Prosecutor’s Office asked Telegram to provide them with the personal data of members of the “Anti-Semitic Movement” and “Anti-Semitic Front”, which the authorities hold responsible for a recent wave of school attacks.

In April, a man wielding an ax killed four children between the ages of four and seven at their school. In the same week, two other schools were attacked, but no one was killed.

In March, a 13-year-old boy stabbed and killed a female teacher at a school in São Paulo.

And in November 2022, a 16-year-old gunman killed four people and wounded more than a dozen others in two attacks on two schools in the southeastern state of Espiritu Santo.

The G1 news portal quoted police sources as saying that the teenager was in contact with anti-Semitic groups on Telegram.

The court said the young man “became a member of extremist groups on Telegram where neo-Nazi materials were shared… with lessons on murder and the manufacture of explosive devices, and videos of violent deaths posted”.

The Dubai-based company, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands, said in a statement last Thursday that the information requested was “technically unobtainable,” stressing that it would appeal the decision.

In March 2022, a Supreme Court judge threatened to ban the Telegram platform in Brazil, due to “non-compliance with judicial orders”, in particular the request to suspend the account of Alan dos Santos, a blogger supporting former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under investigation for misinformation.