The government’s decision reflects a delicate balance between respecting citizens’ rights to free expression and addressing potential security risks. According to an official statement from the Ministry of Communications, the decision to suspend Telegram was taken after the platform failed to comply with requests to shut down channels responsible for sharing sensitive data.
However, such censorship actions can have unintended consequences on citizens’ access to information and communication. NetBlocks emphasizes that the restriction can be circumvented using VPN services, enabling users to bypass government-imposed internet censorship measures.
This isn’t Telegram’s first encounter with government intervention. Past instances in Portugal and Germany have seen governments request channel shutdowns due to piracy and misinformation concerns. More recently, a Brazilian court suspended the service for failing to provide data related to neo-Nazi chats.
