Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of the Rumble video platform in Brazil.
President Donald Trump’s media group and Rumble Inc. filed an emergency motion in a U.S. court on Feb. 22 seeking a temporary restraining order against Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes after he ordered a nationwide suspension of Rumble’s video-sharing service in Brazil.
De Moraes issued the suspension order on Feb. 21, after Rumble Inc. and Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) filed a lawsuit against him on Feb. 19, accusing him of violating U.S. free speech laws when he ordered the shutdown of accounts belonging to a Brazilian user living in the United States.
TMTG operates the social media platform Truth Social, and Rumble Inc. owns the video-sharing platform Rumble. The justice alleged that Rumble Inc. had failed to comply with court orders to name a legal representative in Brazil and to remove the Rumble account of Allan dos Santos.
Santos is a supporter of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. He is considered a fugitive in Brazil and is under investigation over alleged hate speech and spreading false information.
Access to Rumble was blocked in Brazil following the judge’s order. The company said the Truth Social platform, which uses Rumble’s video streaming infrastructure, has also been affected by the ban.
On Feb. 22, TMTG and Rumble Inc. filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida for an “ex-parte temporary restraining order” and preliminary injunction to block the justice’s orders. An ex-parte order would allow legal action to be taken without requiring the defendant’s presence in court.
According to the motion obtained by The Epoch Times via email, De Moraes issued an order demanding that “Rumble immediately submit to Justice Moraes’s authority or be shut down and incur heavy fines” shortly after the Feb. 19 lawsuit was filed against him.
De Moraes issued another order on Feb. 22 requiring local telecommunications companies to shut down Rumble and imposing a daily fine of $8,700 on the U.S.-based company after it refused to comply, the company said.
