Brazil: Court suspension of Telegram revoked after co. agrees to remove messages found to contain fake news; incl. co. comment
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In less than a week, the institutional relationship between Brazil and Telegram had quite substantial changes. First, a court order from Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes acted as an ultimatum for the company, which avoided for several months any kind of contact with entities of the Brazilian judiciary. For months, Telegram was asked to collaborate to combat the spread of fake news on political content channels. Hours after the release of the Supreme Minister's decision, the company's CEO, Russian Pavel Durov, released an apology and began to comply with the orders set by Moraes. On Sunday, the minister revoked the blocking order and allowed the app to operate.
Germany experienced similar problems, which expressed concern about groups using the app to spread disinformation about the covid-19 pandemic and organise protests that turned violent. Telegram only acted there after threat of closure and a fine.
Civil society organizations warn that measure is not effective neither responsible, on the part of the Brazilian State, to combat disinformation and remedy damages, since the suspension of the service disproportionately affects millions of users who legitimately exercise their right to freedom of expression and access to information through the platform.