Telegram is fined BRL 1.2 million after failing to comply with the order of Minister Alexandre de Moraes

THE Telegram was fined BRL 1.2 million after failing to comply with a court order by the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, who ordered the blocking of the channel of the elected federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) on the platform.

Moraes issued the order on January 11 with the justification that the Minas Gerais congressman would have supported the attacks on public buildings in Brasília on January 8. Telegram informed the STF that it complied with part of the decision, but asked for a reconsideration of the block.

The minister promptly denied the request and recalled that the messaging application has an obligation to respect and comply with “direct commands issued by the Judiciary” and said there was “no justification” for non-compliance.

“The social network Telegram, by failing to comply with the court order, directly questions the authority of the court decision taken in the context of a criminal investigation, understanding the right to assess its legality and the obligation to comply,” wrote Moraes.

In turn, Telegram argued that it cannot curtail its users’ right to freedom of expression. Regarding this, Alexandre Moraes guaranteed that it is a constitutional principle, but considered that it could not be used as a pretext for committing crimes.

“This measure does not constitute any prior censorship, constitutionally prohibited even because there is no prohibition on those investigated to manifest themselves on social networks or outside them, as several continue to do, not infrequently repeating the same criminal conduct”, stressed the minister.

The original decision established a 2-hour deadline for blocking the channels and accounts associated with the process, under penalty of a daily fine of R$100,000. As Telegram took 12 days to respond to the request, and it did so partially, the value was multiplied 12 times.

The messaging app will have five days to pay the fine set by the minister, starting yesterday, Wednesday (25). The STF did not say what could happen if the courier continues to fully fail to comply with the court decision.

In March 2022, the minister Alexandre de Moraes ordered the blocking of Telegram in Brazil after the messenger did not respond to requests from the Brazilian Justice to collaborate against the spread of fake news on the network.

The decision was revoked after Telegram responded to Moraes and announce measures to curb misinformation on the platform. Even, a few months ago, the app suspended a group with more than 60,000 members for “illegal content”.