MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

STF Judge reverses Telegram ban after app fully abides by Brazilian law

“Considering the full compliance of the decisions issued” last week, De Moraes allowed Telegram to stay in Brazil

Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre De Moraes Sunday reversed his previous decision to terminate the smartphone application Telegram nationwide for its alleged involvement in the dissemination of fake news.

De Moraes had ordered the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to “immediately adopt all the necessary measures“ to block Telegram nationwide for failing to comply with a series of requirements, including the appointment of an official representative in the country in addition to other items regarding misinformation, due to which certain content needed to be removed; all of this within 24 hours.

In response to De Moraes' ruling, Telegram appointed Alan Campos Elias Thomaz as its legal representative in Brazil. The app said he has direct access to the platform's top management, ”which will ensure our ability to respond to urgent requests from the Court and other relevant bodies in Brazil in a timely manner.“

De Moraes also required Telegram to remove pro-government messaging as well channels belonging to Bolsonarist bloggers De Moraes found were spreading fake news.

Regarding measures to combat disinformation, Telegram vowed to establish working relationships with checking agencies and to restrict postings from users already banned for spreading fake news. The company also pledged to update its terms of services and promote information reliability.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov apologized to the Brazilian Court through a statement: ”We ask the Court to allow Telegram to continue its operations in Brazil, giving us the chance to demonstrate that we have significantly improved our procedures.“

”Given the above, considering the full compliance of the decisions issued on 3/17/2022 and 3/19/2022, I revoke the decision of complete and integral suspension of the operation of Telegram in Brazil,” De Moraes ruled Sunday, March 20.

He also instructed Anatel and the other agencies involved to disregard his previous orders.

Read also: Brazilian judge bans Telegram app nationwide