Telegram was ordered to pay a fine of 5.125 million euros by a German court. The Dubai-based platform will be able to appeal, but the allegations from the German authorities are very serious.
It did not meet the requirements of the Law Enforcement Networkmoreover, the German robes say: “it has become an instrument of radicalization”, promoting the spread of hateful messages and conspiracy theories.
Telegram allegedly failed to comply with Germany’s legal obligations, which require all platforms to integrate gods channels to report to authorities of potentially illegal content. Not only that: tech companies must have one website (or at least a legal representative) in Germany who can receive official communications from the authorities. But Telegram has no branch or representatives.
The NetzDG requires social network providers to provide reporting channels integrated into their platforms so that users have the tools to report messages with criminal content. Providers must also designate a person or institution responsible for receiving official communications from the authorities, the service address must be in Germany so that courts and authorities can serve legally binding documents
reads the note published by the Federal Office of Justice.
So there are two fines: for not integrating the reporting channels, Telegram has to pay 4.25 million euros, while for the lack of a representative office it has to pay another 875,000 euros.
Source: Lega Nerd
