Telegram restricted in Brazil after refusal to supply user data to authorities

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Network data confirm the restriction of messaging platform Telegram in Brazil as of Thursday 27 April 2023. The incident comes after a court order for Telegram to be suspended due to failure to share information on far-right groups using the service.

Real-time NetBlocks metrics show that Telegram frontends and backends have been restricted on leading providers Claro and Vivo (Telefonica) networks AS28573 and AS18881. The service remains accessible on some smaller networks and work is ongoing to assess the extent of compliance. This class of disruption can be worked around using VPN services (we recommend Surfshark), which can circumvent government internet censorship measures.

What’s happening in Brazil?

Brazil has recently stepped up investigations into alleged far-right and neo-Nazi activity online. In this instance, the Federal Police requested the suspension of Telegram because it failed to provide complete user data from two group chats that allegedly provoked attacks on schools.

Brazil has a history of restricting access to Telegram, with similar court orders issued in 2015 and 2016, although the country otherwise has a free and open internet.

NetBlocks recommends against the use of messaging platform restrictions due to their disproportionate impact on the public’s right to freely access and impart knowledge.

Methodology

Internet performance and service reachability are determined via NetBlocks web probe privacy-preserving analytics. Each measurement consists of latency round trip time, outage type and autonomous system number aggregated in real-time to assess service availability and latency in a given country. Network providers and locations are enumerated as vantage point pairs. The root cause of a service outage may be additionally corroborated by means of traffic analysis and manual testing as detailed in the report.

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Reporting Sponsor: Surfshark