Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office, through prosecutor Paulo Gonet, presented arguments to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to support the ban on the social network X (formerly Twitter), owned by Elon Musk, a measure that has generated controversy in the country.
The statement by the Prosecutor’s Office comes in response to multiple demands that question the legality and constitutionality of the banalleging violations of fundamental rights such as freedom of expression.
In its defense, the Attorney General’s Office stressed the importance of protecting national security and public order as justification for this measure. The Attorney General has pointed out that the ban is necessary to prevent the spread of disinformation and content that incites hatred.
The prosecution’s move is due to the fact that local organizations such as the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) introduced an appeal called Allegations of Non-Compliance with a Fundamental Precept (ADPF), which for the prosecution “are not valid appeals for the case and should be dismissed without analysis of the merits,” reported Brazilian media.
On this point, Attorney General Gonet himself indicated that “when the Federal Supreme Court makes a statement through any of its bodies (…) this decision is assumed to be a deliberation of the Court itself. That is why, on a similar level, complaints are not tolerated in these cases either.”
Reactivation of X bank accounts
This is not the first time that Brazil has taken restrictive measures against X. Recently, the country raised a temporary suspension imposed on Starlink and X accounts after paying a $3 million fine. However, The general ban on the platform remains in effect and its future will depend on the final decision of the Supreme Court.
According to Reuters, Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the transfer of 18.35 million reais ($3.3 million) from X’s accounts to the Brazilian national treasury.
Last Friday, August 30, Moraes ordered the “immediate suspension” of access to social network X, a fact reported by CriptoNoticias. The reasons that the judge argued for the ban were X’s inaction to block accounts that spread messages described as “hateful” and “fake news.”
Musk himself has spoken out on multiple occasions about what happened with his social network in the Amazon country. Even before the judge’s decision, Musk had ordered the closure of X’s offices in the country and assured that Moraes “does not respect the law or due process (…) his actions are incompatible with a democratic government.”
