Brazil Court Withdraws Order to Suspend Telegram
Supreme Court probing use of chat platform by government supporters to spread false information ahead of election
SÃO PAULO—A Supreme Court justice Sunday withdrew an order to suspend Telegram in the country after the company complied with directives to block accounts used by President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters to spread false information.
Brazil’s highest court had given Telegram until Sunday to comply with requests to block problematic accounts, appoint a representative in the country, and come up with a plan to combat the dissemination of what Justice Alexandre de Moraes called false information.
The decision by Mr. Moraes Friday to suspend the popular social media and chat app angered many of the president’s supporters, who accused the court of censorship. The president’s office didn’t immediately comment.
On Friday, after Mr. Moraes ordered Telegram to suspend operations, Mr. Bolsonaro called the justice’s decision “inadmissible.” Speaking at a religious event, he said, “What is at stake here, in all of this, is our freedom.”
Mr. Bolsonaro, a former army captain and self-styled fan of former President Donald Trump, has been locked in a battle with the court’s justices, many of whom were appointed during previous administrations.
Mr. Moraes, who has been leading a Supreme Court inquiry into disinformation campaigns in the country, has accused some of the president’s supporters of disseminating fake news ahead of October’s presidential elections. Mr. Bolsonaro is running for re-election, but polls show that his main challenger, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is favored to win.
Mr. Moraes said Telegram had promised to monitor Brazil’s 100 most popular Telegram channels daily, where political news circulates, and monitor news that publishes what has been posted on Telegram. Telegram didn’t immediately reply Sunday to a request for comment.
In his statement Friday following the announcement of the suspension, Pavel Durov, Telegram’s chief executive, vowed to abide by the court’s order.