Telegram Suspension Over Neo-Nazi Links Lifted By Brazil Court

Telegram claims that its messaging app prioritises speed and privacy and that its special secret chats use end-to-end encryption not stored on its servers.

The ban on Telegram in Brazil comes in the wake of the country's battle with a wave of school attacks.

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The suspension of the encrypted messaging app Telegram in Brazil was lifted by the country's second instance appeals court late last week. The app had been suspended earlier in the week for its noncompliance in sharing information about extremist and neo-Nazi groups that were allegedly using the platform.

The judge, Flávio Lucas, from Brazil's Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region, stated that a complete suspension of Telegram's service in the country would negatively impact the freedom of communication for thousands of people unrelated to the ongoing investigation.

However, the judge upheld the imposition of a daily fine of 1 million reais (roughly $200,553) on Telegram for failing to provide the requested data. The federal police requested the suspension order after Telegram failed to comply with a previous court decision to hand over data about two neo-Nazi groups on the app accused of inciting violence in schools.

Telegram claims that its messaging app prioritises speed and privacy and that its special secret chats use end-to-end encryption not stored on its servers. As of yet, Telegram has not issued any comments on the matter, as per Reuters.

When the suspension was enforced, local network carriers in Brazil complied with the ruling due to which several Telegram users were unable to use the social network platform. Apple and Google were also ordered to block the app.

The Pavel Durov-owned company told the police that the Telegram groups had been deleted and that it could not recover the data, according to a New York Times report.

Reacting to the move, Telegram Founder Pavel Durov wrote: "Telegram's mission is to preserve privacy and freedom of speech around the world. In cases where local laws go against this mission or impose technologically unfeasible requirements, we sometimes have to leave such markets. In the past, countries like China, Iran and Russia have banned Telegram due to our principled stance on the matter of human rights. Such events, while unfortunate, are still preferable to the betrayal of our users and the beliefs we were founded on."

"In Brazil, a court requested data that is technologically impossible for us to obtain. We are appealing the decision and are looking forward to the final resolution. No matter the cost, we will stand up for our users in Brazil and their right to private communication," Durov added.

The ban on Telegram in Brazil comes in the wake of the country's battle with a wave of school attacks, including one in November in which a man with a swastika pinned to his vest shot and killed four people and wounded 12 in the small town of Aracruz in Espírito Santo state. the country has seen almost two dozen attacks or violent episodes in schools since 2000, half of them in the last 12 months, including the killing of four children at a daycare centre on April 5.