Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro attends the flag-raising ceremony at his official residence in Brasilia, Brazil, July 22, 2020. (Photo by Lucio Tavora/Xinhua)
Facebook said Saturday it has put a global block on certain accounts controlled by supporters of Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro implicated in a fake news inquiry, a day after it was fined for not complying with a Supreme Court judge's order to do so.
A spokesperson for Facebook said the order was "extreme" and threatens "freedom of expression outside of Brazil's jurisdiction," but said the company has agreed to the order.
"Given the threat of criminal liability to a local employee, at this point we see no other alternative than complying with the decision by blocking the accounts globally, while we appeal to the Supreme Court," the spokesperson said.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes had ruled Thursday that Facebook and Twitter failed to comply with orders to block the accounts because they were only blocked within Brazil.
On Friday, he ruled that Facebook must pay a 1.92 million reais ($367,710) fine for not complying and face further daily fines of 100,000 reais per day if it does not block the accounts in question globally.
Before the fine was announced, Facebook said on Friday that it would appeal the decision.
AFP