Berlin says it could pull the plug on the popular messaging service unless it complies with the German law on banned content.
Germany’s minister of interior has made it clear Berlin is dead serious about making Telegram abide by the country’s laws. Unless the popular messaging app deletes illegal content, Berlin is prepared to block it in the country.
In an interview with Die Zeit weekly newspaper, Nancy Faeser said the German government could not “rule out per se” blocking Telegram in the country. The official hastened to qualify her threat, adding that such a scenario would be “very grave and clearly a last resort,” and would be implemented only after all the other options had been exhausted.
Faeser also lamented the fact that all attempts at communicating with Telegram on the part of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Justice have been of little avail thus far.
The interior minister pointed out that extremists were spreading hatred and plotting attacks with the help of the app, with Telegram adopting a laissez-faire approach toward such activities – something the German government hopes to change.
Read More: EU country threatens to block Telegram
