Telegram has a reputation for allowing any content without moderation. Now the communications service has blocked dozens of channels – under pressure from the federal government.
In response to pressure from the federal government, the communications service Telegram has blocked dozens of channels, according to a newspaper report.
This also includes that of the right-wing conspiracy narrator Attila Hildmann, reported the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, citing security circles. The closure was due to pressure from the Interior Ministry and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). The BKA has sent corresponding deletion requests to Telegram, 64 have been taken into account so far.
Misinformation and inflammatory content
After hate speech and calls for violence in chat groups, the federal government made contact with Telegram. There was a first conversation at the beginning of February. Telegram has a reputation for allowing any content without moderation. There are almost no restrictions on the size of groups or the forwarding of messages. Especially during the pandemic, this attracted actors who were blocked on platforms such as YouTube or Facebook because of false information or hateful content. Some radical opponents of the Corona policy organize themselves via Telegram.
According to the “SZ” report, there was a second meeting at the working level on Thursday. The federal government and Telegram wanted to “continue to be in close contact”, it said afterwards. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) told the newspaper on Friday: “Telegram must no longer be an accelerator for right-wing extremists, conspiracy ideologues and other agitators.” Death threats and other dangerous hate messages should be deleted and have clear criminal consequences. Faeser now sees the first major deletion action as a success of the pressure on Telegram. “The Federal Criminal Police Office has significantly intensified the investigation.”
Source: Stern
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