2023-04-27 01:44:01
A Brazilian court ordered the nationwide blocking of the messenger app Telegram on Wednesday. The operators of the online service have refused to provide the Brazilian authorities with data on members of neo-Nazi groups on Telegram, Justice Minister Flavio Dino said on Wednesday.
The court sentenced Telegram to a fine of one million reais (around 180,000 euros) per day for ignoring requests from authorities to investigate neo-Nazi activities in online networks. In addition, the “temporary suspension” of the online service was ordered.
“There are groups called ‘Anti-Semitic Front’ and ‘Anti-Semitic Movement’ that are active in these networks and we know that they are at the heart of the violence against our children,” he added, referring to a spate of attacks on schools .
In March, a 13-year-old boy killed a teacher in a knife attack at a Sao Paulo school. In early April, a man killed four children between the ages of four and seven at a kindergarten in the southern town of Blumenau. There were two other non-fatal school attacks that same week.
In November, a 16-year-old shot dead four people in attacks on two schools in Aracruz, in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo. The news portal G1 reported, citing police sources, that the teenager had interacted with anti-Semitic groups on Telegram.
According to the federal judiciary in Espirito Santo, investigators had asked Telegram for user data from members of two anti-Semitic groups on the platform. The company only handed over data about the administrator of one of the groups and, according to the authority, was not ready “to cooperate with the ongoing investigation”.
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