The German government said it has had a “constructive discussion” with Telegram in the light of hate speech and calls for violence shared in the app’s chat groups.

German Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, disclosed this on her Twitter page on Friday. “In a first constructive discussion on further cooperation, we agreed to continue and to intensify the exchange,” Mrs Faeser wrote.

She said the government would build on this dialogue without giving further details.

Her comments came as European Union justice ministers met to discuss hate speech online.

Telegram has come under intense scrutiny in Germany during the pandemic because it has become the preferred platform for many extremists to organise protests or spread misinformation.

Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office recently announced that it would begin monitoring Telegram content more closely.

The free-to-use instant messaging service has a reputation for allowing any content without moderation.

Mrs Faeser, a social democrat who has herself been a target of threatening abuse online, vowed to make combatting right-wing extremism a priority when the new German coalition government took office in December 2021.

(dpa/NAN)