Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office (PGR) has urged the Supreme Court to dismiss legal actions challenging the ban on social media platform X.
The PGR argued that suspending Elon Musk’s social media platform does not violate free speech rights and stressed that the lawsuits against the ban lack legal grounds.
The decision comes after Brazil’s Justice Alexandre de Moraes blocked the platform on Aug. 30 after it refused to name a local legal representative. Brazilian law requires social media platforms operating in the country to designate a legal representative.
Previously, X refused to comply with orders from the Brazilian Supreme Court to remove content deemed harmful, such as misinformation and extremist rhetoric.
The PGR was required to review the case after the Brazilian Bar Association and a political party (Partido Novo) appealed the decision to take down the platform. The appeals challenged the X suspension and a $9,000 daily fine for users accessing the platform through virtual private networks (VPNs).
According to the PGR, the legal mechanism used in the appeals cannot be invoked to challenge Supreme Court rulings. “It is not even theoretically admissible to raise a claim of noncompliance with a fundamental precept against an STF judicial decision,” notes a translated version of the Office’s statement.
Supreme Court Justice Marques Nunes, who is reviewing the appeals, is expected to refer the case to the court’s plenary only after the country’s municipal elections, scheduled for October. The court’s panel previously upheld Moraes’s decision to ban the platform on Sept. 2.
Related: One week later: X’s future in Brazil on the line as Supreme Court reviews ban
X’s ban gets to the Congress
According to the official news agency of the Brazilian Congress, the controversy between Musk and the Supreme Court has sparked intense debates among lawmakers over the previous days.
Brazil's House Floor on Sept. 10. Source: Agência Câmara de Notícias
Some representatives had defended Musk’s claims of censorship on social media, citing concerns about free speech in the country. Conservative congressman Nikolas Ferreira criticized the lack of transparency surrounding social media accounts’ blocking, calling it a selective approach by the courts. He said:
“Has any left-wing legislator had their accounts blocked? My accounts were blocked right after last year’s elections, and I don’t know why. I don’t have access to the case records.”
Meanwhile, other lawmakers condemned Musk’s actions as a threat to Brazil’s sovereignty and advocated for regulating social platforms. Congressman Ivan Valente argued that Musk’s actions undermine Brazil’s national sovereignty. “What is happening in Brazil is alarming, this international interference from the far-right,” he said.
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