The five magistrates of the First Panel of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) voted unanimously to uphold the decisions of Justice Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the lawsuits that led to the banning of the X platform, formerly Twitter, in Brazil. The judgment was concluded in the virtual plenary session on Monday September 2.
After the rapporteur’s vote, the first to vote was Flávio Dino, who said it was a matter of defending Brazilian sovereignty, in the face of the imposition of economic power over laws and the Federal Constitution. “Economic power and the size of a bank account do not give rise to an absurd immunity from jurisdiction,” said the minister, who followed Alexandre de Moraes’ vote.
Cristiano Zanin was the third member of the court’s second panel to present his vote on Monday September 2, regarding the decisions made by the rapporteur of the case, Alexandre de Moraes. The trial is taking place in a virtual plenary session. In addition to Zanin and Moraes, Justice Flávio Dino also voted, following the rapporteur and forming the majority for upholding the rapporteur’s decisions.
“The measures ordered in these proceedings are aimed at satisfying the decisions handed down by the Federal Supreme Court, which have been systematically breached by the company, and therefore [they are aimed] at preserving the dignity of justice itself,” said Zanin at the start of his vote, also highlighting the seriousness of Company X’s repeated demonstrations of insubordination to the Brazilian legal system.
“The repeated failure to comply with decisions of the Federal Supreme Court is extremely serious for any citizen or public or private legal entity. No one can intend to carry out their activities in Brazil without observing the laws and the Federal Constitution,” he said.
Zanin also mentioned Law n. 12.965/2014, the Civil Framework of the Internet, which provides for sanctions for companies that fail to comply with the legally stipulated rules, “subjecting them to ‘temporary suspension’ or ‘prohibition of exercise’ of certain activities” and considered that the sanctions applied to the platform by the reporting minister, Alexandre de Moraes “have legal support” in Brazilian legislation.
Justice Carmen Lúcia cited Article 170 of the Federal Constitution, which establishes the principles of the economic order, and guarantees the right of national or foreign companies to operate in the country, “as long as the legal rules in force are respected”. And he emphasized that judicial decisions must be complied with and challenged in accordance with the legal procedures established in the due process of law.
“The Judiciary is a system of organs of national sovereignty for the guardianship of the legal system adopted and its decision must be accepted, respected and legitimized. It must be challenged in accordance with procedural legislation, not according to the moods and wills of anyone, national or foreign. Thus, repeated and unfounded non-compliance with Brazilian law and national legislation must receive a judicial response that is consistent with this action, which is what happened in this case, leading to the suspension ordered,” said the minister.
“Brazil is not a breeding ground for ideologies without ideas of justice, where private interests can thrive wrapped in the crepe paper of glossy screens with no commitment to the law. It is a society of more than two hundred million inhabitants wanting civilization and civility, freedom and responsibility, personal and legal security. It is not with bravado that the Democratic State of Law is built, but with laws that are respected for the liberation of people and nations,” said Carmen Lúcia.
The last to express his opinion to the virtual plenary was Justice Luiz Fux, who in a brief vote followed the rapporteur, but made reservations about Justice Alexandre de Moraes’ decision to impose a fine of Rs 50,000 on people or companies that access platform X using browsing tools such as VPNs.
“I follow the Justice with the proviso that the decision does not affect natural and legal persons indiscriminately and that they have not participated in the process,” said Fux.
Last Saturday August 31, users of X, formerly Twitter, lost access to the social network after the platform was shut down in Brazil by decision of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes the previous day. The decision came after the platform’s owner, billionaire Elon Musk, repeatedly failed to comply with a court order giving X 24 hours to appoint a legal representative in Brazil.
This article was first published on Brasil de Fato.
