The idol of many conspiracy theorists has to go – Telegram severely restricts Attila Hildmann’s reach.
Frankfurt – Attila Hildmann, who has been spreading conspiracy theories on Telegram for years, must now switch to other platforms: According to media reports, the messenger service has blocked the best-known chats of the right-wing extremist Corona denier *. It is said that when you try to enter Hildmann’s chats, the following message appears: “This channel cannot be displayed because it violates local laws.” The hacker group “Anonymous” noticed the blocking on Monday evening (February 7th, 2022). . This had also provided information about Attila Hildmann in the past*.
The fact that Telegram was one of the most important communication platforms for Hildmann can be seen from its reach. The most prominent chat registered 100,000 subscribers. So far, this has only been blocked on individual systems, such as iOS or Android, as happened in June 2021, for example. Now, its biggest channels are not accessible from either the desktop version of Telegram or the app on mobile.
Attila Hildmann’s channels are apparently only blocked on Telegram in Germany
The ban is apparently limited to Germany for the time being, as the Austrian journalist Ingrid Brodnig notes on Twitter: “Austrian accounts can still access Hildmann’s channels”. In addition, Hildmann continues to operate smaller channels, which usually have fewer than 10,000 members. In one of these, the conspiracy theorist announces that he will “report from time to time” on his website because censorship is not possible there. On the said website he agitates against Telegram: “Telegram is now actively working with the state authorities against the truth.”
Federal government increases pressure on Telegram
After it came out in December 2021 that radical opponents of corona measures* were murdering the Prime Minister of Saxony Michael Kretschmer (CDU*) via Telegram, the federal government increased the pressure on the messenger service. Telegram is also criticized by the general public*, since the messenger is used by many radical groups for organization and hate, hate speech and false reports have established themselves as the standard in some channels.
The company behind Telegram is based in the United Arab Emirates. This is probably one of the reasons why it is difficult to reach the group. About a week ago (February 2nd, 2022), the Federal Ministry of the Interior managed to establish direct contact, according to its own statements. As part of a conversation, the Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser* (SPD), “tightened the pace a bit”, said the SPD politician* herself in an interview with the Hessischer Rundfunk. (Monja Stolz) *fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
Headline list image: © Christophe Gateau / dpa
