BRASÍLIA: The Supreme Court judge who had ordered messaging app Telegram blocked in Brazil reversed the ruling Sunday, after the tech company complied with an earlier decree to make changes to the platform.
“Considering that the (court’s requested changes) were fully attended to, I revoke the decision to fully and completely suspend the operation of Telegram in Brazil,” Judge Alexandre de Moraes wrote in a document released by the court.
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The order to block the app throughout the country, published Friday, never actually went into effect, and Telegram had continued to function normally throughout the weekend.
Following the suspension order, Telegram founder Pavel Durov apologized to the Supreme Court and blamed a “communication problem” that he said was due to misplaced emails.
He asked the court to postpone the order to allow time for Telegram to appoint a representative in Brazil and improve communications with the court.
On Saturday, the judge gave Telegram 24 hours to enact changes so he could lift the ban.
The changes included appointing a legal representative in Brazil, erasing some profiles and spelling out what measures it will take to fight disinformation.
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro called the suspension “inadmissible,” saying it threatened the freedoms of Brazilians.
The judge “failed to act against the two or three people that according to him should be blocked, so he decided to affect 70 million people… What is at stake is our freedom,” said the far-right leader, for whom Telegram is a key element of his strategy to win re-election in October.
Dubai-based Telegram is installed in some 53 percent of Brazilian cell phones and is the fastest-growing platform in the country, according to election officials.
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