Platforms such as Telegram, however, have been harder to pin down than more mainstream sites like Twitter and Facebook. Under German law, social media giants must remove illegal content - such as hate speech and death threats - or face large fines.

Initially, German officials struggled to track down the company's official address to send official complaints. Faeser subsequently threatened to shut down Telegram in Germany and said the company could face massive fines of up to €55 million ($62.4 million). Death threats and other dangerous messages of hate must be deleted and have legal consequences,' she said.Īccording to the paper, the German government grew increasingly frustrated with Telegram following several failed bids to remove hate speech and accounts issuing threats from the platform. 'Telegram must no longer be an accelerant for right-wing extremists, conspiracy theorists and other agitators. The interior minister told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that there are increasing waves of 'hate' on the platform, as well as 'threats against people and against our democracy.' Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said she would continue her push to get Telegram to cooperate with German laws. It was not immediately clear which other channels were affected. One of the Telegram channels that was closed down belonged to conspiracy theorist and former vegan chef Attila Hildmann, who spread antisemitic messages as well as disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic to his followers on the platform, the paper reported. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Germany threatens to get tough on Telegram

Telegram down