Justice Moraes orders X to cough up in Lira “rapist” case

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Photo: Andressa Anholete/SCO/STF

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Tuesday ordered X, formerly known as Twitter, to pay the remainder of a BRL 700,000 (USD 126,000) fine imposed for failing to delete, within two hours, tweets calling House Speaker Arthur Lira a “rapist.”

X’s lawyers in Brazil reportedly argued that they complied with the court order in six hours, and that the fine is excessive. The case is under judicial secrecy, and information was obtained by news outlet Metrópoles.

Justice Moraes denied X’s appeal.

At the request of Mr. Lira, Justice Moraes ordered on June 13 for the tweets to be deleted and the profile in question to be suspended.

The tweets went viral while right-wing lawmakers successfully moved to fast-track a bill that would criminalize abortions made after 22 weeks of pregnancy, even in cases of rape. After huge backlash, the bill stalled, but it could still be voted on by the House at any time, bypassing committees.

Abortion is illegal in Brazil in most cases, but is currently allowed in cases of rape, with no time of gestation codified in law.

The tweets cited a 2023 interview by Jullyene Lins, Mr. Lira’s ex-wife. In the interview, she accused Mr. Lira of having raped her in 2006, after their divorce. She filed a police report at the time. In 2015, the Supreme Court acquitted Mr. Lira in the case for lack of evidence.

The Supreme Court told The Brazilian Report that the case is under judicial secrecy.Back in April, Justice Moraes authorized an investigation of billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X, for obstruction of justice, incitation of criminal activity, and the “willful criminal instrumentalization” of the platform.