Brazil will temporarily ban access to Telegram. The Brazilian Supreme Court ordered this Friday to Manzana and Google to help block the download in their digital stores of the instant messaging application, which has become the favorite channel of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro and his followers to spread disinformation.
The highest judicial body in the country has asked the telecommunications agency Anatel to officially suspend Telegram until the company complies with local orders and pays a series of fines that have been imposed for not having stopped the campaign of hoaxes launched by the extreme right. Brazil, especially the false information spread about the general elections that Brazil celebrates next October 2 and in which the reappearance of Lula da Silva threatens to end Bolsonaro’s presidency.
Brazilian authorities already threatened to suspend Telegram earlier this year after pointing out that the company had not responded to their requests to act against disinformation. Following that pressure, the app responded in February by removing three channels from Allan dos Santos, a pro-Bolsonaro blogger accused of spreading conspiracy theories and calls for violence.
The judge of the Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, has said Telegram has failed to cooperate with authorities, giving Apple, Google and national phone carriers up to five days to block the app. De Moraes’ fight against misinformation has led Bolsonaro to call for his removal.
Bolsonaro, against the wall
The Brazilian president is currently being investigated by the Supreme Court for having allegedly leaked police documents, for having criminalized the electronic voting system without evidence -following what donald trump already did in United States– and for making comments falsely linking AIDS to coronavirus vaccines.
Justice is not the only one pointing to Bolsonaro. Last December, the federal police opened an investigation against the ultra-conservative leader for having orchestrated a campaign of lies and manipulation during the 2018 elections to attack the country’s democratic institutions. That police report passed into the hands of the Supreme Court, which indicates that Bolsonaro would have incurred up to eleven crimes different, including slander, defamation, incitement to crimeapology of the crime, criminal association, or false accusation.