Brazil Supreme Court Suspends Telegram for Inciting Violence, Disinformation 

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered the suspension of the messaging app Telegram as police investigate its use by some far-right supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro to disseminate false information, giving Brazil’s telecom regulator 24 hours to take the necessary measures to shut down Telegram after he said the platform failed to comply with previous judicial orders including directing the blocking of the accounts of Bolsonaro supporters the court accuses of spreading disinformation about Covid-19 and organizing underground campaigns to incite violence against Supreme Court justices, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Legal experts described the ruling as drastic but within the boundaries of the law, while President Bolsanaro called Justice Moraes  a “scoundrel” and said the court could “suffer what we don’t want,” without offering further elaboration. Many conservative politicians and commentators across the world have joined the platform, which critics accuse of acting as a permissive disseminator of disinformation and other problematic content even as it has also become a powerful tool for dissidents in oppressive regimes in places such as Cuba and Iran.