Spain’s supreme court has ordered the temporary blocking of popular messaging app Telegram throughout the country. The court’s decision comes after media companies in the country claimed that the platform was using copyrighted material.
Media companies Mediaset, Atresmedia, Movistar and Egeda complained that Telegram was distributing content created by the companies as well as copyrighted content without the permission of the creators. The court, headed by Judge Santiago Pedraz, contacted the owners of the platform and asked them to provide information related to the case.
When the company behind Telegram did not respond to the request, Judge Pedraz decided to block the application on Friday, reports Euronews. The information would have concerned who was behind some of the accounts. However, the block will only be temporary and will last for a few days.
In Spain, about 18 percent of the population uses Telegram, which corresponds to about eight million people. The decision has been criticized by many users, such as Facua, an organization that monitors consumer issues in the country. According to Facua, the ruling will cause “enormous damage” to millions of Telegram users.
In 2015, the app was suspended in China and later banned in Thailand, Pakistan, Iran and Cuba.
