X suspension in Brazil: Supreme Court rules on precautionary measure that ordered the blocking of the social network, will the measure be upheld?

The first chamber of the Supreme Court of Brazil celebrates this Monday a hearing on the precautionary decision that suspended the services of the social network X in the country, due to repeated disregard by the magnate Elon Musk to various sentences of that court.

The five judges that make up the chamber will speak virtually during this session and the first two votes have already been inclined to ratify the suspension of X’s service, which has been effective since early Saturday morning.

The first vote was taken by the case’s instructor, Alexandre de Moraes, whom Musk calls a “dictator” and has been insulting for months on the X itself, after he ordered the suspension of dozens of profiles on that platform as part of a process regarding the massive dissemination of fake news and attacks on democracy and its institutions.

None of these orders were complied with and Musk even withdrew his legal representatives from Brazil, about those who he claimed were under threat of being imprisoned by De Moraes.

In his vote, which has already been supported by Judge Flávio Dino, De Moraes cited the “repeated, conscious and voluntary failure to comply with court orders and payment of fines” imposed by the court on Musk’s company.

According to the judge, this would be intended to “establish an environment of total impunity and a ‘lawless land'” to facilitate “the actions of extremist groups and digital militias on social networks” through “massive dissemination of Nazi, racist, fascist, hateful and anti-democratic speeches.”

What’s next?

Following the votes of Moraes and Dino, members of the court who have already been Ministers of Justice of Brazil in different governments, Judges Carmen Lúcia Antunes, Luiz Fux and Cristiano Zanin, who are said to be in favour of supporting the suspension, must give their opinion before midnight..

The injunction against X has been joined by another front in the legal conflict with Starlink, also owned by Musk, which has refused to comply with the suspension of the social network in Brazil.

The accounts of Starlink, which offers satellite internet services and has some 215,000 active lines in Brazil, have been blocked by De Moraes in order to ensure payment of the fines imposed on X.

Even so, The internet company announced on Sunday that it will not comply with the decision against X until the blocking of his accounts is lifted..

The sanctions against the South African tycoon’s companies were adopted in the midst of the campaign for the municipal elections next October, which has stirred up the polarization between the extreme right led by former president Jair Bolsonaro and the progressivism embodied by the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro has condemned what he calls “ideological persecution” against “conservatives,” while Lula has declared that every foreign company operating in Brazil must “respect” the country’s justice system.