Conservative challenge to Brazil's ban on Musk's X may escalate feud
Brazil’s conservative Partido Novo seeks to reverse ban on X
Party also questions freeze on accounts of Musk's Starlink
Supreme Court justice to take X challenge to panel or dismiss
Brazil Bar Association questions fining those accessing X by VPN
By Luciana Magalhaes and Ricardo Brito
SAO PAULO, Sept 5 (Reuters) -A conservative party in Brazil is seeking to reverse a judge's ban on Elon Musk's X platform, potentially escalating the months-long feud over censorship and hate speech in South America's largest country.
Partido Novo's challenge of the decision by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes barring the popular social media site will be taken up by another top court judge, complicating the high-stakes row with the billionaire's business empire.
"This is about freedom of expression - we want X back to normal in Brazil," Jonathan Mariano, a federal prosecutor and Partido Novo candidate for Rio de Janeiro's city council, told Reuters.
Moraes last week ordered X blocked in its sixth-biggest market after the platform, formerly Twitter, failed to comply with orders to block some accounts accused of spreading "fake news" and hate messages that the judge said were a threat to democracy. He also froze the assets of Musk's Starlink satellite broadband firm for possible use to pay fines owed by X.
Musk, who has called Moraes a "dictator," accused him of "shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil." X has shut its Brazil offices over what it called "censorship" by the judge.
Partido Novo sought a court injunction this week to halt Moraes' ban of X, saying it was unconstitutional. The party also questioned the freezing of Starlink assets, arguing that the two firms are separate entities.
Moraes declined to comment on Wednesday about the party's challenges. Musk, his lawyer and Starlink did not respond to repeated requests for comment this week.
COURT CHALLENGE EXPECTED TO MOVE QUICKLY
Partido Novo's request will be taken up by Justice Kassio Nunes Marques, who was appointed by far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro. He is expected to take the case to a wider court panel or dismiss it.
No date has been set for a decision, but Marques is expected to move quickly, given the reverberations from Moraes' moves against Musk's entities. Marques could not immediately be reached for comment.
Musk, in addition to owning X and 40% of Starlink parent SpaceX, is the CEO of electric vehicle giant Tesla TSLA.O.
Brazil's leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has backed Moraes' decision to suspend X, saying, "Just because a guy has a lot of money doesn't mean he can disrespect" the law. Musk derided the president as Moraes' "lapdog."
Moraes' decision was backed by one of the Supreme Court's two panels, although some experts said a wider consensus should have been sought.
"Such a controversial issue should have been debated by all 11 justices, not just by half of them," said Sao Paulo-based constitutional lawyer Vera Chemim, who argued the case boils down to a battle for power between Musk and Moraes.
Chemim said the freezing of Starlink's accounts violates Brazilian law and should be immediately reversed.
But a former Supreme Court chief justice, Carlos Ayres Britto, disagreed. "X and Starlink are tentacles of the same octopus, they form an economic group," he said.
Partido Novo is not the only group questioning Moraes' decision. Brazil's Bar Association has also asked the Supreme Court to reverse Moraes' order to fine Brazilians 50,000 reais ($8,900) a day for using VPNs to access X in the country.
The association argued that imposing fines violates the constitutional principles of separation of powers, full defense and due process.
Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes in Sao Paolo and Ricardo Brito in Brasilia; Editing by Christian Plumb and William Mallard
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