Spain’s High Court has issued an order to suspend the operations of the popular messaging app Telegram within the country. This decision comes in response to complaints from various media companies, alleging that Telegram was facilitating the unauthorized uploading of their content by users, as disclosed by a court source.
Effective from Monday onwards, the use of Telegram in Spain will undergo a temporary suspension, following the appeal made by media giants such as Atresmedia, EGEDA, Mediaset, and Telefonica. Judge Santiago Pedraz has sanctioned the blockage of Telegram’s services in Spain while investigations into the claims are carried out. It has been stipulated that mobile phone service providers will be tasked with implementing the suspension, as confirmed by the court source.
As of the time of reporting, Telegram has not issued a response to requests for comments on the matter. Similarly, a spokesperson from the High Court has refrained from making any statements in this regard.
According to data provided by Spain’s competition watchdog CNMC, Telegram stands as the fourth most widely used messaging service within the nation. Remarkably, nearly 19% of Spaniards surveyed by CNMC reported using Telegram.
Highlighting its global footprint, Telegram asserts that it boasted over 700 million monthly active users worldwide in the year 2023.
The ramifications of this suspension on Telegram’s user base and the broader messaging app landscape remain to be seen, pending further developments in this legal saga.