Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) threatens the Telegram chat service with shutdown if the company continues to disregard German laws.

“We cannot rule that out per se either,” said the minister of the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit” about such a step.

Switching off would, however, be "very serious and clearly the ultima ratio".

Therefore, all other options must have previously proven to be unsuccessful. 

It is obvious that the previous measures, including a warning letter from the Federal Ministry of Justice, have led to nothing, said Faeser.

"To say, in the end, we switch off the service - that would be a sensitive evil for any provider." 

European solution sought

On Telegram, extremists have so far been able to spread hatred and forge attack plans without having to reckon with intervention by the operator.

The Network Enforcement Act obliges providers of social networks to quickly remove obviously illegal content after a complaint.

"I think it is one of the most important points to enforce the law here," said the interior minister. 

Faeser is striving for a European solution to force Telegram to cooperate.

"Today Telegram is in Dubai, tomorrow maybe in the Cayman Islands," emphasized the minister.

“We're going to need a lot of strength to enforce the law.

As a German nation-state, we cannot do it alone. ”She is talking about this with her European counterparts.