The Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes determined this Saturday (19) that Telegram comply, within 24 hours, with the judicial decisions issued by the Court that are still pending. According to Moraes’ decision, the fulfillment of pending issues within this period is what will avoid the suspension of the platform in Brazil.
“Telegram, so far, has partially complied with the court orders, and full compliance is necessary for the suspension decision handed down on 3/17/2022 to be removed.”
The minister also cited the request for excuses disclosed in a note by the founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov. In the decision, he reproduced the statement by Durov, who claimed to have had problems with corporate email addresses, which prevented the platform from being communicated about the STF’s decisions on blocking investigated profiles.
“It appears that we had a problem between our corporate emails and the Brazilian Supreme Court. As a result of this miscommunication, the Court banned Telegram for not responding,” stated Durov.
The backlog indicated by Alexandre de Moraes in the decision includes:
– indication of the official representation of Telegram in Brazil;
– information, immediately and obligatorily, of all measures adopted to combat misinformation and the dissemination of fraudulent news, including the terms of use and the penalties provided for users who incur in the aforementioned conducts;
– immediate deletion or withdrawal of publications published on the link https://t.me/jairbolsonarobrasil/2030, preserving their content, with availability to the STF (the information refers to a confidential investigation and not completed by the Federal Police)
– blocking of the Claudio Lessa channel with the provision of his registration data to the STF and the full preservation of its content.
Block
Moraes complied with a request from the Federal Police and ordered the blockade, which took place as part of an ongoing investigation at the Court involving journalist Allan dos Santos.
Yesterday (18), the platform’s founder, Pavel Durov, informed that he will appoint a legal representative for Brazil and asked the STF to reconsider the suspension decision.
In February, Moraes had ordered the messaging app to block profiles accused of disseminating disinformation, however, the STF was unable to summon the representation in Brazil of the company responsible for the app.
On another front, at the beginning of the month, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) also tried to locate the company’s representatives, through the law firm in Brazil. A letter was addressed to Pavel Durov.
According to the Federal Police, the app is “notoriously known for its stance of not cooperating with judicial and police authorities in several countries”.
