02/09/2024 – 14:02
The First Panel of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) confirmed, this Monday (2), the decision of Minister Alexandre de Moraes to suspend the social network X, alleging judicial non-compliance by the platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk.
Access to X, formerly Twitter, has been unavailable on its website and app since early Saturday morning, hours after the blockade ordered by Moraes.
The Supreme Court minister has been in a dispute with Musk for months, which has as its backdrop the limits of freedom of expression.
The five ministers of the First Chamber of the STF, including Moraes, voted in a virtual session in support of the measure.
“Elon Musk demonstrated his total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the Judiciary, positioning himself as a true supranational entity and immune to the legislation of each country,” said Moraes when endorsing his decision.
A figure in the fight against disinformation in Brazil, Moraes ordered on Friday the “immediate suspension” of X across the country within 24 hours, a decision that outraged Musk, a defender of unlimited freedom of expression.
“Freedom of expression is the basis of democracy and an unelected pseudo judge in Brazil is destroying it for political ends,” the tycoon responded on X.
Musk, a supporter of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, called the judge an “evil dictator.”
The suspension, just over a month before the municipal elections, responds to an ultimatum from Moraes on Wednesday for the platform to appoint a legal representative in Brazil under penalty of suspending its activities.
The deadline expired on Thursday and the former Twitter account said it expected to be blocked for its refusal to comply with “illegal orders” from the minister to “censor its political opponents”.
The company announced in mid-August the closure of its operations in Brazil due to Moraes’ actions, but kept the service available to Brazilians.
“Freedom of expression does not protect repeated violations of the legal system,” highlighted this Monday the STF minister Flávio Dino, former Minister of Justice under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Lula also spoke out on the matter, questioning Musk’s “disrespect” for Brazilian laws.
As of Friday, X had 22 million users in Brazil, according to the specialized portal DataReportal.
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