BRAZIL SUPREME COURT JUDGE BANS TELEGRAM MESSAGING APP AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Sat 19 March 2022:

Telegram, a popular messaging service in Brazil, was ordered to be shut down nationally by a Supreme Court ruling on Friday, citing the company’s refusal to cooperate with authorities. President Jair Bolsonaro, who has over 1 million followers on the platform and defends it as a major instrument for his reelection campaign in October, has been hit by the move.

The country’s internet regulators were instructed to block the use of Telegram with immediate effect after the Dubai-based company failed to remove profiles linked to one of the most prominent supporters of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and ignored multiple court ordered inquiries.

“Telegram’s disrespect for Brazilian law and repeated failure to comply with countless court decisions … is completely incompatible with the rule of law,” Moraes wrote in his decision.

Telegram is largely recognized as Bolsonaro’s preferred social media site, and his campaign has used it in the past to mobilize his supporters and respond to criticism of the government’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.

When the country goes to the elections in October this year, the president, who has over a million Telegram followers, will be seeking re-election.

According to Reuters, the judge stated Telegram also refused to follow the Superior Electoral Tribunal’s and police’s orders, as well as the Supreme Court’s.

Bolsonaro took to Twitter on Friday to post a link for his Telegram account and asked his supporters to subscribe to his account before it was banned.

“Our Telegram informs people every day of many important actions of national interest, which many regrettably omit. Welcome, and share the truth.”

The court decision was welcomed by Bolsonaro’s political opponents and political analyst and digital communications specialist Pablo Ortellado tweeted – The decision “will have big political and electoral repercussions. This could move one of the main game pieces of the campaign.”

Several followers of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro were providing tutorials on how to build virtual private networks (VPNs) so they could continue using Telegram, according to fact-checking website Aos Fatos, which monitors hundreds of pro-Bolsonaro social media channels. Other Bolsonaro supporters pledged to continue posting their remarks via Gettr, a texting service developed by former Trump adviser Jason Miller.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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