Brazil Unbans Telegram after Only Two Days

After imposing a ban on Telegram, Brazil has decided to unban the platform. The ban came after the Supreme Court of the country tried to block the application given its failure to respond to past judicial orders when it was asked to freeze accounts that spread misinformation regarding its decisions.

According to The New York Times, the court decided to go back on the ban after the platform made numerous changes that can help keep fake news and misinformation at bay, specifically classified information regarding the Brazilian far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and deletion of accounts such as those of Allan dos Santos, a staunch supporter of Bolsonaro and an activist accused of spreading misinformation.

Telegram has also decided not to tag posts containing false information and instead promote those with verified information. The platform will also monitor the country’s 100 most popular channels.

The app has more than 1.1 million subscribers and is the go-to app for supporters of the Brazilian President, who is currently under investigation for leaking police documents and spreading misinformation.

The ban on Telegram lasted for only two days and was imposed by Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes. The Justice had also ordered Google and Apple to remove Telegram from their app stores.

While Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov claimed that the company missed the emails received from the court, requested a delay on the ban, and apologized for not taking action sooner.