The judge of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil Alexandre de Moraes ordered on Friday to suspend the Telegram messaging application in the South American country, considering that it has not collaborated with the authorities.
In his ruling, the judge said Telegram remained silent after police ordered it to block profiles linked to blogger Allan dos Santos, an ally of President Jair Bolsonaro accused of spreading disinformation.
Moraes, who is leading an investigation into disinformation on Brazilian social media, issued an arrest warrant for Dos Santos in October. However, the activist has remained active on Telegram.
The judge held in his ruling that “the total and complete suspension of Telegram’s activities in Brazil will be maintained until the previously issued judicial decisions are complied with.”
Moraes gave a period of five days for Apple, Google and the Brazilian telephone companies to block Telegram on their platforms.
At the moment, Telegram has not commented on the judge’s decision and has not returned the calls made to his legal representative. The service was still operating on Friday afternoon.
Many of Bolsonaro’s supporters have turned to Telegram since its competitor WhatsApp changed its policies for sharing messages. The president has often accused Moraes and the Brazilian Supreme Court of issuing sentences that go against freedom of expression.
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