Brazil Lifts Its Ban On Telegram After Two Days

Brazil has lifted its ban on Telegram after two days of banning it by the Congress Supreme Court

Telegram, the fast-growing messaging platform, has been trying to gain a response from Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court, electoral officials, and federal police for months. All they had to do was ban it.

iexclusive News Nigeria reports that Telegram was banned in Brazil by the Supreme Court on Friday. After the firm behind the software disobeyed the court’s demands.

Then, out of nowhere, Telegram’s CEO reacted — with a tepid excuse: his company had failed to receive the court’s emails.

“I sincerely apologize to the Brazilian Supreme Court for our oversight,” said Pavel Durov, the executive.

Over the weekend, Telegram acted rapidly to comply with the court’s demands.

Including deleting confidential information provided by President Jair Bolsonaro’s account.

And also erasing the accounts of a famous Bolsonaro supporter accused of spreading misinformation.

The court was happy with this move. Telegram’s restriction was lifted by the court late Sunday.

However, iexclusivenews reports that in order to escape a ban, Telegram went even further.

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In Brazil, the app made many other improvements to counteract misinformation. Which has alarmed Brazilian officials ahead of the October presidential elections.

Telegram claimed that among the improvements will be encouraging verified material in Brazil.

And flagging fake postings as erroneous, as well as having personnel monitor the country’s top 100 channels, which account for 95 percent of public post views.

“The app has always been prepared to work with law enforcement.”

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“What happened was a communication misunderstanding,”

said Alan Thomaz, Telegram’s Brazilian lawyer, who was appointed on Sunday as part of Telegram’s court response.

The court’s decision was made so quickly that the prohibition never went into effect.

The prohibition had given internet providers, wireless carriers, and Apple and Google five days to comply.

While the court’s injunction was in effect for two days.

Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court justice who has emerged as a vocal opponent of Mr. Bolsonaro, imposed and then removed the ban.

He’s in charge of a number of investigations investigating the president and his associates.

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Mr. Bolsonaro slammed the prohibition, calling it “unacceptable,” and his administration swiftly filed a lawsuit against it.

Telegram has traditionally taken a hands-off attitude to material on its apps.

Which has endeared it to right-wing users who say that their views are suppressed on more mainstream social media platforms.

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As a result, Telegram has become a key broadcasting platform for Mr. Bolsonaro, who has roughly 1.1 million Telegram followers.

Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his main opponent in the 2020 presidential election, with less than 50,000 votes.

Telegram has a significant presence in Brazil, and losing access to the country would have been a severe setback for a firm that has been rapidly growing in popularity.

According to Sensor Tower, the app has been downloaded over 85 million times in Brazil since 2014, with 29 percent of those installations occurring last year.