The Spanish national court ordered a ban on Telegram, the country’s fourth most used messaging service, on March 22.
FACUA (NGO for the Defence of Consumer Rights) has issued a statement saying that Telegram would be banned as of March 23rd. However, on March 25, Judge Santiago Pedraz postponed the suspension and extended the investigation until September 29th.
The court made the decision based on copyright infringement claims from companies such as Mediaset, Atresmedia and Movistar Plus. The company has declared that Telegram allows users to upload content without permission.
In the event of a ban, Spain will join North Korea, China, Iran and Pakistan as one of the countries where telegrams are prohibited.
However, due to the popularity and protests of applications from organizations including FACUA (consumer advocacy group), Telegram will remain available to Spanish users.
FACUA general secretary Ruben Sanchez said the ban would cause “great harm” to millions of users.
The judge has now issued a statement, recognising that a ban on telegrams is an “overly and unbalanced measure.”
