⚠️A PSA to Brazilians and people who care⚠️

Brazil's government (actually, our supreme court) is once again blocking Telegram. Meaning that if you are Brazilian you will probably lose access, and if you have Brazilian friends, they might go dark.

This is happening because Telegram has refused to cooperate with the government's investigations into the events that happened on the 8th of January and the fashy telegram groups that were allegedly involved in it.

Is this permanent?
Probably not. The last 3 times it happened (... Long stories) it lasted a couple of days, the longest being about a week. Eventually Telegram corporate caves and gives the government what it wants. With how long it actually lasts depending on the particular ISP of the Bean-person in question, as the actual blocking is done BY the ISP.

What can I do about it?
1. Exchange contacts with your friends on other platforms. Discord, WhatsApp, Twitter, Fediverse (Mastodon/Pleroma/etc.), whatever. Especially if those people are important to you. If you're Brazilian, exchange contacts with everyone, if you're foreign, make sure you have alternate means to contact your Brazilian friends. Again, it probably won't last too long, but still!

2. (If Brazilian) Consider getting a telegram proxy for the time being. These WILL slow down your connection to Telegram and will also insert a sussy-looking channel to your contacts list that you cannot remove. But they will also (usually) bypass the government blockade.

3. (Just in General) Consider moving to more open, less corporate platforms like Matrix/XMPP. Those are less likely to end up like this. Though it is also understandable that it's not as fun if your friends aren't there.


(Thanks to out mod Count Regal for this through and helpful guide!)