Will Spain be able to block Telegram?

• Suspension of Telegram in a European country.
• Judge’s final decision on suspension of messaging app in country

On Friday March 25, a Spanish judge ordered the suspension of Telegram as part of an investigation into user accounts suspected of violating intellectual property rights, according to court statements last Saturday.

In his decree, Spanish judge Santiago Pedraz, also a member of the National Court, ordered Spanish telecommunications and Internet access operators to suspend access to Telegram. However, this decision has not yet been fully implemented.

Suspension of Telegram in Spain

The High Court of Spain ordered Temporary suspension of Telegram instant messaging service As part of an intensive investigation launched by a group of Spanish audiovisual companies after some accounts were accused of transmitting information that infringed their copyrights.

In his request, the judge called on Virgin Islands authorities to require the company to provide “certain technical data to identify the owners” of the accounts in question, but received no response. “The lack of cooperation from the Virgin Islands authorities, who are only asked to communicate with those responsible for the telegram, means that precautionary measures (…) must be adopted,” the judge explained.

Is Telegram really going to be suspended?

After considering the temporary suspension of the instant messaging app last Friday for privacy reasons, Spanish judge Santiago Pedraz finally On Monday March 26, it withdrew its decision, revoking the temporary suspension of the application. It now asks the Office of the General Information Commissioner for police reports on application from the General Information Office of the National Police.

So an order to suspend the application on Spanish territory is currently pending, which should provide relief to several million users in Spain. The cancellation also satisfied associations that had opposed it, notably FACUA, who warned of the “enormous harm” the closure would cause to many users.

However, banning the app will likely be ineffective, as Telegram has ways to block local operators by misleading them about the origin of the connection (with special proxies). A perfect example of the powerlessness of national law in the face of a global digital company with millions of users; Users who are determined to stay that way.