Brazil’s conservative Partido Novo seeks to reverse ban on X

6/9/2024 6:14

        Brazilian Justice Kassio
        Nunes Marques said the full Supreme Court will make the final
        decision on a case filed by a conservative political party
        challenging the suspension of social media platform X in the
        country, a document showed on Thursday, which could potentially
        escalatea months-long feud.
        
        In his decision, Marques said that "the constitutional
        controversy conveyed in this argument is sensitive and has
        special repercussions for public and social order, so I consider
        it pertinent to submit it for consideration of the full Supreme
        Court," the document showed.
        
        According to a Supreme Court spokesperson, that does not
        mean the case will immediately be sent to the full court, as
        Marques could make an individual decision before putting it to
        the top court's 11 members.
        
        "What the justice said is that in the end the final decision
        must be made by the plenary," the spokesperson said.
        
        Marques has also asked to hear the opinion of the office of
        Brazil's attorney general before any decision.
        Right wing party Partido Novo has been seeking to reverse
        Justice Alexandre de Moraes' ban on Elon Musk's X platform.
        
        "This is about freedom of expression - we want X back to
        normal in Brazil," Jonathan Mariano, a federal prosecutor and
        Partido Novo candidate for Rio de Janeiro's city council, told
        Reuters.
        
        Moraes last week ordered X blocked in its sixth-biggest
        market after the platform, formerly known as Twitter, failed to
        comply with orders to block some accounts accused of spreading
        "fake news" and hate messages that the judge said were a threat
        to democracy.
        
        X also failed to name a local legal representative as
        required by Brazilian law and ignored a deadline for compliance
        with court orders.
        In response, Moraes froze the assets of Musk's Starlink
        satellite broadband firm for possible use to cover fines owed by
        X.
        A poll has shown that Brazilians are split over Moraes' order
        for X to be taken down in the country. A slight majority says
        the judge is right in his feud with Musk, but the user-targeted
        fines on VPNs and the freezing of Starlink accounts in the
        country were seen as "abusive."
        
        Musk, who has called Moraes a "dictator," accused him of
        "shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil." X has shut its
        Brazil offices over what it called "censorship" by the judge.
        
        Partido Novo sought a court injunction this week to halt
        Moraes' ban of X, saying it was unconstitutional. The party also
        questioned the freezing of Starlink assets, arguing that the two
        firms are separate entities.
        
        Moraes declined to comment on Wednesday about the party's
        challenges. Musk, his lawyer and Starlink did not respond to
        repeated requests for comment this week.
        
        Musk, in addition to owning X and 40% of Starlink parent
        SpaceX, is the CEO of electric-vehicle maker Tesla.
        
        Brazil's leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has
        backed Moraes' decision to suspend X, saying, "Just because a
        guy has a lot of money doesn't mean he can disrespect" the law.
        Musk derided the president as Moraes' "lapdog."
        
        Moraes' decision was backed by one of the Supreme Court's
        two panels, although some experts said a wider consensus should
        have been sought.
        
        "Such a controversial issue should have been debated by all
        11 justices, not just by half of them," said Sao Paulo-based
        constitutional lawyer Vera Chemim, who argued the case boils
        down to a battle for power between Musk and Moraes.
        
        Chemim said the freezing of Starlink's accounts violates
        Brazilian law and should be immediately reversed.
        
        But a former Supreme Court chief justice, Carlos Ayres
        Britto, disagreed. "X and Starlink are tentacles of the same
        octopus, they form an economic group," he said.
        
        Partido Novo is not the only group questioning Moraes'
        decision. Brazil's Bar Association has also asked the Supreme
        Court to reverse Moraes' order to fine Brazilians 50,000 reais
        ($8,900) a day for using VPNs to access X in the country.
        
        The association argued that imposing fines violates the
        constitutional principles of separation of powers, full defense
        and due process.