Spain’s national court ordered on Saturday to suspend the use of Telegram over allegations of unauthorised use of visual and audio content.
National Court Judge Santiago Pedraz assessed the accusation made by Mediaset, Atresmedia and Movistar Plus and recognised deficiencies in relation to copyright. Furthermore, he instructed telephone operators in Spain, including Vodafone, Orange, Digi, Movistar, MasMovil, to suspend the use of Telegram “as soon as possible.”
The judge deemed the suspension of Telegram usage, which he accused of “non-collaboration” and a “failure to enable the reporting of specific technical data,” as a precautionary measure.
The decision to suspend the use of Telegram has attracted criticism. For example, the consumer association, Facua, argued that the “disproportionate” decision would cause “significant harm” to millions of users and companies distributing content. In addition, Podemos party leader, Ione Belarra, criticised the decision as “a threat to freedoms, unfair, censorious, and completely disproportionate” in a social media post.
The usage of Telegram continues in Spain, but it is expected to be shut down soon.
