Brazilian Electoral Body Begins Pre-Election Talks With Telegram

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th March, 2022) Brazilian electoral authorities met with a representative of the Telegram messaging app on Thursday to talk about a coordinated response to "fake news" ahead of this year's general elections.

The top Brazilian court scrapped a ban on the app over the weekend after its founder, Pavel Durov, said that the company would sign up to a memorandum on fighting disinformation.

The Superior Electoral Court said that Thursday's meeting was the first round of talks that would identify "ways of collaboration aimed at (conducting) legitimate and safe elections in 2022.

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Telegram official in the country, Alan Campos Elias Thomaz, stressed the importance of opening a channel of dialogue and promised to relay the court's suggestions to the executives, the electoral body said.

Brazilians will go to the polls in October to elect the president, the vice president and the parliament. Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro has been actively campaigning on social media and has 1.3 million subscribers on Telegram.