STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes determines the suspension of Telegram in Brazil for 72 hours

According to the minister, Telegram would be using "illicit disinformation" to induce the population to "force" parliamentarians against PL 2630/20. He refer to this message.

The minister determined that Telegram:
1) Delete all messages sent to users within 1h.
2) Send the message below to all users:
“By determination of the FEDERAL SUPREME COURT, the company Telegram communicates: The previous message from Telegram characterized FLAGRANT and ILLEGAL DISINFORMATION that attacks the National Congress, the Judiciary, the Rule of Law and the Brazilian Democracy, since, fraudulently, it distorted the discussion and the debates on the regulation of providers of social networks and private messaging services (PL 2630), in an attempt to induce and instigate users to coerce parliamentarians”.

In case of non-compliance with the decision within a maximum of 1 hour:
3) Temporary suspension of Telegram in Brazil for 72 hours.
"Natural and legal persons who incur conducts in the sense of using technological subterfuges for the continuity of communications made by the TELEGRAM, in the event of suspension, will be subject to civil and criminal sanctions, as provided by law, in addition to hourly fine of BRL 100,000.00 (one hundred thousand reais)."
It is unknown whether this refers to users using proxy or VPN. If so, the minister would be itself offending article 5, XLV, of Federal Constitution: "no penalty will pass from the person of the condemned person..." (principle of intranscendence of punishment).
4) Fine of BRL 500,000 per hour to Telegram.

The Minister also determined that:
5) The Federal Police must interrogate legal representatives of Telegram in Brazil within 48 hours about:
- Who authorized the sending of the message.
- The reasons for sending the message.

It is not yet known whether the Minister acted (again) "ex officio" (without any request from any party or Public Ministry).

Check the full decision bellow (in portuguese):

A democracia está sob ataque no Brasil. A Câmara dos Deputados deverá votar em breve o PL 2630/2020, que foi alterado recentemente para incluir mais de 20 artigos completamente novos que nunca foram amplamente debatidos. Veja como esse projeto de lei matará a internet moderna se for aprovado com a redação atual. Caso seja aprovado, empresas como o Telegram podem ter que deixar de prestar serviços no Brasil.

Concede Poderes de Censura ao Governo
Esse projeto de lei permite que o governo limite o que pode ser dito online ao forçar os aplicativos a removerem proativamente fatos ou opiniões que ele considera "inaceitáveis" [1] e suspenda qualquer serviço de internet – sem uma ordem judicial. [2]

Por exemplo, o Ministro da Justiça requisitou recentemente sanções contra o Telegram, alegando que o aplicativo “não respondeu a uma solicitação” – antes mesmo da solicitação ser feita. Se o PL 2630/2020 estivesse em vigor, o governo poderia ter bloqueado imediatamente o aplicativo como “medida preventiva” até que o Telegram provasse que não violou nenhuma lei.

Transfere Poderes Judiciais Aos Aplicativos
Esse projeto de lei torna as plataformas digitais responsáveis por decidir qual conteúdo é “ilegal” em vez dos tribunais – e fornece definições excessivamente amplas de conteúdo ilegal. [3]

Para evitar multas, as plataformas escolherão remover quaisquer opiniões relacionadas a tópicos controversos, especialmente tópicos que não estão alinhados à visão de qualquer governo atualmente no poder, o que coloca a democracia diretamente em risco.

Cria um Sistema de Vigilância Permanente
O projeto de lei exige que as plataformas monitorem as comunicações e informem as autoridades policiais em caso de suspeita de que um crime tenha ocorrido ou possa ocorrer no futuro. [4]

Isso cria um sistema de vigilância permanente, semelhante ao de países com regimes antidemocráticos.

É Desnecessário
O Brasil já possui leis para lidar com as atividades criminosas que esse projeto de lei pretende abranger (incluindo ataques à democracia).

O novo projeto de lei visa burlar essa estrutura legal, permitindo que uma única entidade administrativa regule o discurso sem supervisão judicial independente e prévia. [5]

E Mais!
Isso apenas toca a superfície do motivo pelo qual esse novo projeto de lei é perigoso. É por isso que Google, Meta e outros se uniram para mostrar ao Congresso Nacional do Brasil a razão pela qual o projeto de lei precisa ser reescrito – mas isso não será possível sem a sua ajuda.

O Que Você Pode Fazer Para Mudar Isso
Você pode falar com seu deputado aqui ou nas redes sociais hoje. Os brasileiros merecem uma internet livre e um futuro livre.

The message above was removed from the official channel Telegram @TelegramBR right now...

Recebemos uma ordem do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) do Brasil que obriga o Telegram a remover nossa mensagem anterior sobre o PL 2630/2020 e enviar uma nova mensagem aos usuários, que está incluída abaixo.

“Por determinação do SUPREMO TRIBUNAL FEDERAL, a empresa Telegram comunica: A mensagem anterior do Telegram caracterizou FLAGRANTE e ILÍCITA DESINFORMAÇÃO atentatória ao Congresso Nacional, ao Poder Judiciário, ao Estado de Direito e à Democracia Brasileira, pois, fraudulentamente, distorceu a discussão e os debates sobre a regulação dos provedores de redes sociais e de serviços de mensageria privada (PL 2630), na tentativa de induzir e instigar os usuários à coagir os parlamentares.”

🚨 Telegram removed the old service message and sent the new message above to all brazilian users.

https://core.telegram.org/bots/update37alfnkdsbfj23bjbdsvb8s9120ei12fnb2bu34
Just another old page...

Although Telegram released IP and phone number from an user account to the Brazilian Court last year, untill now there is no report for Brazil on @transparency.

🇪🇸 Spain National Court orders the blocking of Telegram in the country
(despite it's unknown if Telegram was directly notified to manifest)

In 2023 a complaint has been filed in Spain National Court by Mediaset, Atresmedia and Movistar Plus (3 major Spain audiovisual companies) against Telegram, for infringement of intellectual property rights.

In 22 march 2024 Santiago Pedraz Gómez, judge of Spain's Court, ordered 10 Spain Internet Access Operators within three hours of receipt of the judicial communication to temporarily:
1) Block Telegram Web: https://web.telegram.org/k/
2) Block Telegram Messenger: https://telegram.org/
3) Disable and block the connection [IP addresses, protocols, ports and any other connection element], to suspend the operation of the "Telegram" application (app) from the connections from Smartphone and/or Tablet of the users who have installed the "Telegram" "app" on their computers, working from any operating system (Android, iOs).

The judge argues that:
🔹 Telegram was requested to identify the owners of accounts used for infringement of intellectual property rights but there was a lack of cooperation from the authorities of the Virgin Islands, which were asked to carry out a communication activity to those responsible for Telegram since July 28, 2023.
🔹 The measure of blocking the app has legal support in article 13.2 of the LECRIM which states:
"In the investigation of crimes committed through the internet (...), the court may order, (...) measures consisting of the provisional removal of illegal content, in the temporary interruption of the services offering such content or in the temporary blocking of them when they are located abroad." (translated)

Telegram's legal domicile is located in the city of Tortola (British Virgin Islands).
Telegram's operational center is located in the city of Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

Judge's order was sent on a Friday afternoon so it is possible that until Monday some of the internet operators do not receive the order and, therefore, the order may not be effective until then.

According to Santiago Menéndez-Abascal (Google's legal advisor in Spain) the court order can't fit in with recent rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Like the judgment in the case between Vladimir Kharitonov and Russia, which ruled:
"Where exceptional circumstances justify the blocking of illegal content, the country that issues the block shall ensure that the measure is strictly targeted to the illegal content and does not have arbitrary or excessive effects regardless of how it is implemented." (translated)

In this case I think it is clear that the judge order is against what was defined in the ECHR, won't block the infringement of intellectual property itself and will affect communication of 8.5 millions Telegram spanish users.

Check the full order below (in Spanish):

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