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A6 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 3 sepTember 2024
Brazil Supreme Court panel unanimously upholds judge’s decision

to block X nationwide

By DAVID BILLER and GABRI- publish the justice’s decisions
ELA SÁ PESSOA that he said would show they
Associated Press violated Brazilian law.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A But legal experts have said
Brazilian Supreme Court pan- such claims don’t hold wa-
el on Monday unanimously ter, noting in particular that
upheld the decision of one de Moraes’ peers have re-
of its justices to block billion- peatedly endorsed his rul-
aire Elon Musk’s social media ings as they did on Mon-
platform X nationwide, ac- day. Although his actions are
cording to the court’s web- viewed by experts as legal,
site. The broader support they have sparked some de-
among justices undermines bate over whether one man
the effort by Musk and his has been afforded too much
supporters to cast Justice power, or if his rulings should
Alexandre de Moraes as an have more transparency.
authoritarian renegade who De Moraes’ decision to
is intent on censoring political quickly refer his order for
speech in Brazil. panel approval served to
The panel that voted in a vir- obtain “collective, more
tual session was comprised institutional support that at-
of five of the full bench’s 11 tempts to depersonalize the
justices, including de Moraes, decision,” Conrado Hübner,
who last Friday ordered the Ana Claudia, a salesperson at a cell phone case store located inside the bus station, shows the a constitutional law expert at
platform blocked for refusing last X post she received before the social media platform was blocked nationwide in Brasilia, the University of Sao Paulo,
to name a local legal repre- Brazil, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. told The Associated Press.
sentative, as required by law. Associated Press It is standard for a justice to
It will stay suspended until it De Moraes also set a daily justice opposing unless users world and began migrat- refer such cases to a five-
complies with his orders and fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) are shown to be using X to ing en masse to alterna- justice panel, Hübner said.
pays outstanding fines that for people or companies us- commit crimes. tive platforms, like Bluesky In exceptional cases, the
as of last week exceeded ing virtual private networks, Brazil is one of the biggest and Threads. “He violated justice also could refer the
$3 million, according to his or VPNs, to access X. Some markets for X, with tens of mil- the constitution of Brazil re- case to the full bench for re-
decision. The platform has legal experts questioned the lions of users. Its block marked peatedly and egregiously, view. Had de Moraes done
clashed with de Moraes over grounds for that decision and a dramatic escalation in a after swearing an oath to the latter, two justices who
its reluctance to block users, how it would be enforced, monthslong feud between protect it,” Musk wrote in have questioned his deci-
and has alleged that de including Brazil’s bar asso- Musk and de Moraes over the hours before the vote, sions in the past and were
Moraes wants an in-country ciation, which said it would free speech, far-right ac- adding a flurry of insults and appointed by former right-
legal representative so that request the Supreme Court counts and misinformation. accusations in the wake of wing President Jair Bolsonaro
Brazilian authorities can exert review that provision. Over the weekend, many the panel’s vote. On Sun- would have had the oppor-
leverage over the company But the majority of the panel X users in Brazil said they day, Musk announced the tunity to object or hinder the
by having someone to arrest. upheld the VPN fine with one felt disconnected from the creation of an X account to vote’s advance. q

Protesters in Nigeria face possible death penalty as accusation of

treason brings outrage

By DYEPKAZAH SHIBAYAN British High Commission did Muyiwa Adejobi accused ing “a network of sleeper promising positive change.
Associated Press not immediately respond Andrew Wynne of working cells to topple the govern- The protesters were
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At to a request for comment. with the protesters as a for- ment and plunge the na- charged under Nigeria’s
least 10 protesters in Nige- Nigeria police spokesman eign mercenary and build- tion into chaos.” He did not Penal Code, which critics
ria faced a possible death provide any evidence to have described as one of
penalty on Monday after back up the claim. the country’s harshest laws
being charged with trea- At least 22 protesters were and one used by authori-
son over their participation shot dead by security ties to clamp down on dis-
in recent demonstrations forces during the demon- sent. The treason charge
against the country’s worst- strations, Amnesty Interna- carries the death penalty.
in-a-generation economic tional has said. Authorities The trial was widely con-
crisis. The protesters were have denied it. The Asso- demned in Nigeria.
arraigned in the capital, ciated Press confirmed at “Some of the charges
Abuja, and accused of least three killings. show how far Nigerian
acting “with intent to de- Little is known about the authorities can go in mis-
stabilize Nigeria … and fate of hundreds of other using the criminal justice
intimidate the president” protesters arrested. system to silence critical
during the protests. They There have been growing voices. These are blatantly
pleaded not guilty and will concerns in Nigeria about trumped-up charges that
remain in prison until a Sept. human rights abuses un- must be immediately with-
11 bail hearing. A British citi- Protesters stand in a cell after a court hearing in Abuja, Nigeria, der the government of drawn,” Amnesty country
zen was named among the Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. President Bola Tinubu, who director Isa Sanusi said in a
suspects still at large. The Associated Press was elected last year after statement.q