From the Independent article:
But those same features have proven controversial, as they have allowed criminals and other groups to organise away from law enforcement.
In Germany the platform is seen a source for conspiracy theories and hate speech, especially as the country has grappled with the Covid pandemic. It seen as a major platform for anti-lockdown activists.
There has been strong resistance to vaccination among a minority of Germans. The latest figures show 72 per cent are “fully vaccinated”. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has backed calls for a vaccine mandate and MPs are expected to begin debating a bill later this month.
Germany is not alone in potentially seeking controls on Telegram. Bans and regulations exist in a variety of countries, from China to India and Russia. Those governments often point to criminal and problem content being spread on the platform to justify the blocks.
The slippery slope to totalitarianism. It stuns me that those sentences and statements are seemingly perfectly acceptable to most. "other groups", not criminals, but vaguely, this catch all of "other groups"... should be unable to "organise away from law enforcement"?
Shut down, censor and ban an entire platform because it hosts groups with views you may disagree with? You have to tolerate the views you despise, to ensure that the views which you believe in and foster can still be spoken - you can't have it both ways. Freedom of speech is just that. This is nothing more than a cynical move to drive users onto platforms owned and controlled by "Big Tech", and thus under constant surveillance by government agencies.
No matter what: people will always disagree and "conspiracy theories" will never be extinguished. There are only three types of conspiracy theory - virally spread nonsense - which is mostly facilitated by the Big Tech based platforms, state sponsored misinformation dissipated via the same platforms - and those that turn out to be true (not many). Many commonly accepted truths were once conspiracy theories. We are also fed state sponsored "conspiracy theories" and propaganda constantly, via the media about foreign states such as North Korea, China, Venezuela and Russia - these are happily and readily, absorbed by the willing sponges.
If someone is opposed to vaccinations or a lockdown, that should be their
democratic right as part of a free society. It's incredible how such people ("groups", as they call them) are now apparently under the same umbrella as provisional terrorist groups.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.