Court orders Telegram to block copyrighted material 16-02-2021 01-10-2011 An Israeli court has ordered instant messaging service Telegram to block the distribution of copyrighted media on its platform, following a lawsuit from anti-piracy group ZIRA. ZIRA took Telegram to court last year claiming that the company was not doing enough to combat piracy on its platform. The group was joined by fellow plaintiffs and rights owners United King Films, YES, HOT and Reshet. They claimed that Telegram had “fallen short of expectations” in removing copyrighted material from its platform. Telegram failed to file a statement of defence last week, leading the Central District Court to rule in favour of the plaintiffs. The ruling orders Telegram to stop hosting copyrighted materials, and to pay NIS 100,000 ($30,700) in compensation and NIS 60,000 to cover legal costs.