A second instance judge in Brazil on Saturday (April 29) overturned last week’s blocking of the Telegram messaging service.
According to the federal court, the latter had not handed over data on neo-Nazi groups active on the platform to authorities.
Judge Flávio Lucas deemed the suspension of the application throughout the country “inappropriate” because it “affects the freedom of communication of thousands of people who have nothing to do with the facts under investigation.”
Still, he upheld the fine of R$1 million (US$198,000) per day imposed on the company by the first instance for each day it fails to provide the requested data, the Rio de Janeiro-based Federal Regional Court-2 (TRF-2) said in a statement.
Federal police and Brazilian prosecutors had asked Telegram for personal data on all members of the “Brazilian Anti-Semitic Movement” and “Anti-Semitic Front” channels, which authorities have linked to attacks on Brazilian schools in recent months.
Last November, a 16-year-old youth shot dead four people and wounded more than ten others in two schools in the southeastern Brazilian state of Espirito Santo.
The young man “is alleged to be a member of extremist groups on Telegram, where neo-Nazi material was shared (…) with the dissemination of instructions to murder and make explosive devices, as well as videos of violent deaths,” the TRF-2 said.
According to the first-instance court, Telegram provided the requested data only “in part.”
The Dubai-based company, registered in the British Virgin Islands, argued in a statement that the requested information was “technologically impossible to obtain” and announced it would appeal in court.
“We will defend our users in Brazil and their right to private communication, whatever the cost,” CEO Pavel Durov said.
Telegram had already been blocked in Brazil in March 2022, when a Supreme Court judge ruled to block the company for repeatedly failing to comply with court orders to combat disinformation in an election year and cooperate with authorities to prosecute other crimes.
Following the blocking order, which was never enforced, Telegram appointed a legal representative in Brazil and explained its internal mechanisms for combating disinformation in court.
It also explained that as in China, Iran, and Russia in the past, it can leave Brazil if local laws threaten its mission to promote freedom of communication or impose technologically infeasible requirements.
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