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By Ricardo Brito, Maria Carolina Marcello, Lisandra Paraguassu and Andre Romani
BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil's Supreme Court on Friday ordered the suspension of U.S. video-sharing platform Rumble in the country, citing its failure to comply with court orders and mirroring a move made against Elon Musk's X last year.
Rumble, a video platform favored by right-wing influencers, has refused to block the account of a Brazilian streamer living in the U.S. who is under investigation in his home country for alleged hate speech and spreading false information.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who also led the country's tussle with X, said the suspension will last until Rumble names a legal representative for Brazil and complies with other orders, including the payment of pending fines, a court decision showed.
Moraes has spearheaded a crusade on perceived attacks on democracy and political use of disinformation, particularly under the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro, drawing ire from those such as X owner Elon Musk in the process.
Rumble, whose previous investors include a venture capital firm co-founded by now-U.S. Vice President JD Vance, said in a statement it was exploring all avenues to challenge the decision.
Rumble's U.S. counsel separately called the court order "judicial overreach" and said it disrupted the video platform's operations in Brazil as well as those of U.S. President Donald Trump's social media platform Truth Social, whose video services rely on Rumble infrastructure.
In a decision on Wednesday, Moraes ordered Rumble to appoint legal representation within 48 hours under risk of immediate suspension. Brazilian law requires foreign companies to have a legal representative to operate locally.
Rumble previously cut access to users in Brazil in 2023, citing court orders to deactivate accounts for some creators.
The platform, however, went back online in the country early this year. CEO Chris Pavlovski said Brazil had moved "to rescind their censorship order on Rumble," without explaining.
Moraes' Friday decision gave Brazil's telecommunications regulator, Anatel, 24 hours to suspend Rumble.
ACCOUNT TO BE BLOCKED
Moraes said he ordered Rumble on February 9 to block the account of Allan dos Santos, a digital influencer close to former President Jair Bolsonaro, and suspend the monetization of his profile.
Dos Santos, who currently lives in the United States, is considered a fugitive in Brazil, as there is a warrant out for his arrest as part of investigations into the spreading of misinformation and hate.
Rumble and Trump Media & Technology Group earlier this week sued Moraes in Florida over accusations of illegal censorship.
Rumble on Friday called Moraes' rulings "extraterritorial censorship" in response to the platform's "refusal to censor political dissidents residing in the United States."
Moraes, in his Friday ruling, said Rumble "deliberately confuses censorship with the constitutional prohibition of hate speech and the incitement of anti-democratic acts."
The judge is also weighing charges brought against Bolsonaro earlier this week, which allege he led a plot to overthrow Brazil's government and undermine the country's democracy after his 2022 election loss.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito, Maria Carolina Marcello and Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Andre Romani in Sao Paulo; Additional reporting by Gabriel Araujo and Isabel Teles in Sao Paulo; Editing by Kylie Madry, David Evans, Christian Plumb, Richard Chang, Diane Craft and Tom Hogue)
