A federal appeals court in Brazil lifted the ban on Telegram in the country. The suspension was issued earlier this week after the app failed to provide data on neo-Nazi groups suspected of promoting school violence. A teenager accused of two school shootings ought to be a member of these groups. Authorities found violent videos, Nazi propaganda, and bomb-making instructions in the groups’ chats.
Telegram Ban Lifted
The judge, Flávio Lucas, said that the total Telegram ban was unfair because many people in Brazil rely on the app to stay in touch. But the judge upheld the $200,000 daily fine imposed on the app for failing to provide the requested data to local authorities. The first ban came from a federal judge who ordered Apple and Google to remove the app from their domestic app stores.
Those two groups have not been on Telegram anymore. So the app couldn’t recover the data they wanted. By the way, in Brazil, the country’s Supreme Court banned Telegram in 2022 for failing to block accounts accused of spreading wrong info ahead of the country’s presidential election. They lifted the ban only a few days after.
Gizchina News of the week
The decision to remove the ban on Telegram is good news for the many people in Brazil who depend on the app to stay in touch. It also shows how important privacy concerns are and the problems governments face when trying to control online activity. It is crucial to strike a balance between the need for public safety and security and the right to privacy and freedom of expression. As a result, it is a must for app devs and governments to work together to find a middle ground that respects users’ privacy while maintaining public safety. In this regard, we should say that Telegram bills itself as a messaging app that focuses on speed and privacy. It also claims that what users talk through the app uses end-to-end encryption and does not retain on its servers.
Good news. I hope Tg continue to focus on privacy.