Ban in Brazil lifted after Telegram follows court rulings

Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Sunday (Mar. 20) revoked the order to ban smartphone application Telegram after the pending court rulings were observed.

The justice also ordered national telecom agency Anatel and other companies involved to stop efforts to block the app.

On Saturday (19), Alexandre de Moraes had set a 24-hour deadline for the execution of a list of orders, including the appointment of an official representative for the app in Brazil, the disclosure of information on measures to fight disinformation, and full compliance with decisions stipulating the content removal or channel blocking.

Under the ruling, Telegram appointed Alan Campos Elias Thomaz as its legal representative in the country. The app declared he has direct access to the platform’s top management, “which will ensure we are able to respond to urgent requests from the court and other relevant bodies in Brazil in a timely manner.”

As measures to combat disinformation in Brazil, Telegram listed monitoring the 100 most popular channels in the country as well as Brazilian media. The app noted it should establish working relationships with fact-checking agencies and limit public posts for users banned for spreading disinformation, as well as updating terms of services and promoting verified information.

In a statement, Telegram founder Pavel Durov apologized yet again to the Brazilian Court. “We ask the Court to allow Telegram to continue operations in Brazil, giving us the chance to show we have improved our procedures significantly.”