Brazil temporarily suspends Telegram use

A federal judge in Brazil ordered last Wednesday the temporary suspension of the messaging app Telegram, alleging that the social networking platform had failed to provide all the information requested by the Federal Police on neo-Nazi chat groups. As AP reports, the move is seen as part of the country's fight against rising school violence. Several users acknowledged that they could no longer use the application after local operators complied with the ruling. Google and Apple were also ordered to block the application. The fine for non-compliance with this judgment will be US$200,000.

The ruling by a federal court in the state of Espírito Santo says that "the facts demonstrated by the police authorities show a clear intent by Telegram not to cooperate with the investigation." Those responsible for the Telegram app have so far not officially responded to this decision. The development comes at a time when the country is facing a spate of attacks in schools, including one in November in which a man with a swastika in his vest he shot and killed four people and wounded twelve others in the small town of Aracruz. Four children were killed in a day care center on April 5.