By Luciana Magalhaes, Ricardo Brito
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian judge Kassio Nunes Marques said the full Supreme Court will make the final decision in a case brought by a conservative political party challenging the suspension of social media platform a document shown on Thursday. A months-long feud may escalate.
In his decision, Marques said that “the constitutional controversy raised in this argument is sensitive and has special implications for public and social order, so I consider it relevant to submit it for consideration to the full Supreme Court,” it appears from the document.
According to a Supreme Court spokesperson, this does not mean the case will immediately be sent to the full court, as Marques could make an individual decision before it is referred to the 11 members of the highest court.
“What the judge said is that the final decision must ultimately be made by the plenary,” the spokesperson said.
Marques has also asked to hear the opinion of Brazil’s attorney general’s office before making a decision.
The right-wing party Partido Novo has tried to overturn judge Alexandre de Moraes’ ban on Elon Musk’s X platform.
“This is about freedom of expression – we want X to return to normal in Brazil,” Jonathan Mariano, federal prosecutor and Partido Novo candidate for Rio de Janeiro’s city council, told Reuters.
Moraes last week ordered X blocked in its sixth largest market after the platform, formerly known as Twitter, failed to comply with orders to block a number of accounts accused of spreading “fake news” and hate speech that according to the judge, constituted a threat to democracy.
X also failed to appoint 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 company for possible use to cover fines owed by X.
A poll has revealed that Brazilians are divided over Moraes’ order to take down X in the country. A slim majority says the judge is right in his feud with Musk, but the user-targeted fines for VPNs and the freezing of Starlink accounts in the country were seen as ‘abuse’.
Musk, who has called Moraes a “dictator,” accused him of “shutting down the most important source of truth in Brazil.” X has closed its Brazilian offices due to what the judge called “censorship.”
Partido Novo this week applied for a court order to stop Moraes’ ban on X, saying it is unconstitutional. The party also questioned the freeze on Starlink’s assets, arguing that the two companies are separate entities.
Moraes declined to comment on the party’s challenges on Wednesday. Musk, his lawyer and Starlink did not respond to repeated requests for comment this week.
Musk not only owns X and 40% of Starlink parent company SpaceX, but is also CEO of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla (NASDAQ:).
Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has backed Moraes’ decision to suspend X, saying: “Just because someone has a lot of money doesn’t mean he can’t respect the law.” Musk mocked the president as Moraes’ “lap dog.”
Moraes’ decision was backed by one of the Supreme Court’s two panels, although some experts said a broader consensus should have been sought.
“Such a controversial issue should have been discussed by all 11 judges, and not just half,” said Sao Paulo-based constitutional lawyer Vera Chemim, who argued that the case boils down to a power struggle between Musk and Moraes.
Chemim said the freeze on Starlink’s accounts violates Brazilian law and should be reversed immediately.
But a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, Carlos Ayres Britto, disagreed. “X and Starlink are tentacles of the same octopus, they are an economic group,” he said.
Partido Novo is not the only group to question Moraes’ decision. Brazil’s Bar Association has also asked the Supreme Court to overturn Moraes’ order fining Brazilians 50,000 reais ($8,900) per 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.
