ROME, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Prosecutors in Turin, northern Italy, called on the company behind the Telegram messaging application (app) to take down a chat group that opposes the country's coronavirus vaccination program and said they were monitoring at least 50 other anti-vaccine groups that disseminate misinformation.
The chat group "Basta Dittatura" (Italian for "No More Dictatorship") included threads that questioned the legality of Italy's vaccine rollout and coronavirus health restrictions. The members of the group also published private contact details of government offices and of leading health officials, allowing group members to harass them.
According to media reports, "Basta Dittatura" had more than 40,000 active members.
Prosecutors reportedly said that the call for the closure of the chat group was ordered to "stop the means by which the crimes hypothesized by investigators could have been committed: the incitement to commit a crime and the repeated violation of privacy rules."
A court official told Xinhua on Tuesday that Telegram was informed of the call for the chat group to be closed down, otherwise it could face legal action.
In an innovation that sets Telegram apart from rival services, the platform allows users to join secret chat groups on specific subjects. Although chat groups are not monitored for content, they are liable for illegal content.
The more than 50 other anti-vaccine, anti-"Green Pass" and COVID-19 skeptic groups being monitored could face similar legal action, the court official said.
According to local media reports, the company behind Telegram has not yet responded to the prosecutors.
Telegram is a cloud-based free mobile and desktop messaging app based in London and Dubai. According to the data firm Statista, it was the world's fifth most popular instant messaging platform in July in terms of the number of monthly active users, trailing WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and China's WeChat and QQ.
Earlier this summer, Italian police busted a scheme on Telegram where users could buy fake COVID-19 health passes required to access a series of services and leisure activities. These Telegram groups offered the "Green Pass" for up to 500 euros (595 U.S. dollars) in cryptocurrency. Enditem
