Brazilian justice lifts Telegram ban after orders met

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Less than 48 hours after suspending the messaging app Telegram in Brazil, a Supreme Court justice said it could resume operations because it had complied with a judicial order.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes had ordered that platforms and internet providers block Telegram on Friday. On Saturday, he set a 24-hour deadline for the messaging app to comply with terms including blocking profiles that were spreading false information, as well as the removal of posts on President Jair Bolsonaro’s channel that gave access to details of a secret federal police investigation.

In his decision on Sunday, de Moraes said Telegram has complied with his order and was adopting measures to combat disinformation in Brazil by monitoring the 100 most popular channels in the country.

According to the justice, the social network also said it will establish relationships with information checking networks, restrict public posts by users banned for spreading fake news, and update its terms of service to promote verified information.

Blocking Telegram in an election year would have been a major blow to Bolsonaro, who has more than 1.2 million followers on the platform and defends the tool as key to his re-election in October.