Greek police have arrested two local men for operating two separate closed groups on a popular voice and IM app that was used to inform tens of thousands of members about law enforcement checkpoints in the greater Athens-Pireaus agglomeration, in the first case, and Thessaloniki and Crete, in the second.
The two closed groups reportedly had more than 200,000 members who received almost real-time updates on law enforcement activity deployed on the roads.
Greek authorities deemed the activity as illegal, with relevant charges filed. The courts will now decide whether the activity breaks the law or whether such communication is covered under freedom of speech.
The arrested individuals, a 29-year-old identified as the “super admin” and a 55-year-old accused of being the “admin”, face charges of incitement to commit crimes and dangerous road safety violations. Authorities simultaneously contacted the provider to suspend three online groups linked to these activities.
One group community, allegedly managed by the 55-year-old, had more than 173,000 members, while the 29-year-old ostensibly oversaw two additional groups totaling 28,000 members, sharing updates on checkpoint locations and times.
Such checkpoints have increasingly been set up over the recent period to combat DUI and other traffic-related violations.
Police investigators conducted home searches in the presence of prosecutors, seizing four mobile phones. The latter will undergo forensic examination at a police crime lab.
Law enforcement officials have charged that such phone app groups and related platforms pose a serious risk to road safety by alerting drivers, including potential offenders, about checkpoints.
