A Madrid court has ordered the temporary blocking of Telegram, a popular messaging service in Spain, starting March 25. The decision came as several media companies filed lawsuits against Telegram for violating copyright protection measures. However, the ruling has faced opposition in Spain, as the competition watchdog CNMC reports that the platform ranks fourth in Spain with 19% of users.
The Spanish court claims to have sought administrative support from the government of the British Virgin Islands, where Telegram is registered, but to no avail. The lack of cooperation has made it difficult to identify the owners of Telegram accounts where copyrighted content was illegally distributed. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include media companies such as Atresmedia, EGEDA, Mediaset, and Telefonica.
Despite the court ruling, Telegram remains accessible in Spain, and even if the ban is implemented, it could be easily circumvented by using a network connection such as a VPN.
Telegram has previously faced accusations of spreading fake news, harmful content, and copyright infringement in other countries such as China, India, Brazil, Germany, Thailand, and Indonesia. Developed as a secure messaging app in 2013, Telegram offers end-to-end encryption by default, ensuring secure and private messaging. As of 2023, Telegram has over 700 million monthly active users worldwide.