Supreme Court upholds suspension of X in Brazil

On Monday morning (Sep. 2), the 1st Panel of the Federal Supreme Court voted to maintain the suspension of the social network X, formerly known as Twitter. Justices Cristiano Zanin and Flávio Dino fully endorsed the vote of the rapporteur, Alexandre de Moraes, upholding the decision.

Cármen Lúcia and Luiz Fux were the last to cast their votes in the virtual plenary session. Justice Lúcia fully supported the rapporteur's decision, agreeing that the repeated and unjustified disregard for Brazilian law requires a consistent judicial response.

“The Judiciary is an institution of national sovereignty responsible for upholding the legal system, and its decisions must be accepted, respected, and legitimized. Any challenge to these decisions should follow procedural law, not be dictated by the whims or desires of individuals, whether national or foreign,” she stated.

Reservations

Justice Luiz Fux concurred with the rapporteur but expressed some reservations. He emphasized that the decision should not indiscriminately impact individuals or companies that were not involved in the proceedings.

Zanin's vote was the one that secured the majority on the panel. The magistrate pointed out that the platform's suspension was due to the company's repeated failure to comply with court orders.

“Repeated non-compliance with Supreme Court rulings is a matter of grave concern, whether for citizens or public and private entities. No one can expect to conduct their activities in Brazil without adhering to its laws and Constitution,” Zanin stated in his vote.

In his view, both the temporary suspension of the platform and the temporary ban on using other technological means to access it—such as users employing VPNs—are legally justified.

Earlier in the day, Justice Flávio Dino also aligned with the rapporteur, Alexandre de Moraes. Dino argued that the principle of national sovereignty underpins the decision to suspend the platform. “Our nation's regulatory framework excludes any foreign imposition, and it is Brazil's courts, with the Supreme Court as their highest authority, that determine the interpretation of the laws in force here,” Dino stated.

Rapporteur Moraes' vote

When submitting the case to the 1st Panel of the Supreme Court, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who reported the case to the court, pointed out that Brazil's Civil Rights Framework for the Internet establishes the civil liability of internet providers for damages resulting from content identified as illegal.

In addition, he noted that foreign companies are required to have a legal representative in Brazil to operate in the country, a requirement that X failed to meet.

“The situation is exacerbated by the fact that, despite being legally required to comply with orders to block profiles that disseminate criminal content related to the case, the platform in question not only disobeyed the court's directives but also, in a criminal act, chose to spread messages inciting hatred against the Supreme Court,” Moraes stated in the order.

Moraes contended that Elon Musk, the platform’s owner, has conflated freedom of expression with the freedom to incite aggression and has misinterpreted censorship as a constitutional prohibition against hate speech and incitement to a coup d'état. Moraes further argued that the social network is being used to promote attacks on democracy, citing the events of January 8, 2023, in Brazil, as a prime example.

Elon Musk has been leading a campaign against Moraes and Brazilian authorities, alleging that the actions of the Brazilian judiciary constitute censorship. Analysts suggest that Musk's campaign is part of a broader strategy to undermine investigations into the January 8 events, when supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed key government buildings in Brasília, demanding a military coup in Brazil.

Musk is under investigation by the Supreme Court as part of the digital militias inquiry, which examines the activities of groups that allegedly coordinated on social media to target the court, its members, and the 2022 Brazilian election.

In Brazil, freedom of expression is not absolute. The law prohibits, among other things, the advocacy of Nazi or racist ideologies, incitement to coups d'état, fostering hostility between the Armed Forces and other institutions, endorsing criminal activity, and making threats against individuals.