Brazil blocks Telegram because of neo-Nazis and anti-Semitism
04/27/2023
The Telegram platform refused to provide the Brazilian Federal Police with data on the channels of neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic groups, as a result of which the court ordered the phone operators Vivo, Claro, Tim and Oi, as well as Google and Apple, which are responsible for the Playstore and App Store app stores, to make Telegram inaccessible to customers . Also, the fine imposed on the platform was increased tenfold - from 100,000 reais to 1 million reais per day.
According to the G1 news portal, Telegram provided some of the data upon request, but refused to disclose the phone numbers of administrators and members of neo-Nazi channels.
The request for access to the data was made after an investigation into the shootings at two schools in Aracruz revealed that the perpetrator was linked by anti-Semitic groups on Telegram. The tragedy occurred in November last year - a 16-year-old Brazilian staged a shooting at two schools, as a result, 4 people were killed, 13 more were injured.
After the criminal was detained, it was established that the guy was reading Telegram channels, where materials of anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi content were distributed. There were also published "video lessons" on the commission of murders, the manufacture of explosives and the organization of attacks. In addition, the investigation revealed that there are many such channels in Brazil - for example, anti-Semitic groups were discovered in São Paulo and Goias, in which teenagers were recruited in Maranhao.
The police even detained several teenagers in different parts of the country - during the search, they all found cold or firearms, flags and other items with Nazi symbols.