France demands the closure of Telegram groups targeting Muslims

The Ministry of Interior took action after the Twitter account Tajmaat exposed the Telegram group, which calls for attacks on Arabs, Muslims and blacks.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced that he has ordered the shutdown of Telegram groups used by the far-right group FRDeter, which was exposed over the weekend.

Darmanin shared the news of Ouest-France on the subject on his Twitter account.

Using the words «The request for the closure of Telegram groups where racist comments and calls for violence were made, has been submitted», Darmanin noted that the Ministry of Interior teams started the work with the judicial authorities to identify and prosecute those who posted in the groups.

They coordinate through groups

The existence of the Telegram groups in question was revealed over the weekend by a Twitter account called Tajmaat.

In the screenshots shared by Tajmaat, it is seen that users made racist comments and calls for violence in Telegram groups with far-right FRDeter members, and some users described themselves as police or soldiers belonging to Neonazi movements.

In the shared screenshots, it was asked how many people were ready to attack the mosque in the city of Lille at the time of iftar on April 13.

The French press reported that the Telegram groups in question have been monitored by the police since the end of last year, and that the intelligence units were aware of some profiles of members of the groups.