Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called for thousands of demonstrators in central Sao Paulo to protest against the country's ban on the social media platform X.
The rally was timed to coincide with the country's Independence Day on Saturday.
It also came as Bolsonaro's political rival, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, led an official parade with the country's military in the capital, Brasilia.
Dressed in the colours of the Brazilian flag, Bolsonaro stepped onto a temporary stage erected on Sao Paulo's main thoroughfare, Avenida Paulista, and addressed the crowd.
His comments took aim at one of the main people responsible for X's ban: Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
“I hope that the Federal Senate will stop Alexandre de Moraes, this dictator who does more harm to Brazil than Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva himself,” Bolsonaro told the crowd.
De Moraes had asked the social media platform to appoint a legal representative in Brazil, as required by Brazilian law.
In August, when X refused to comply, De Moraes issued an order suspending all of the platform's activities in Brazil.
It was the culmination of an ongoing dispute between De Moraes and X owner Elon Musk.
The billionaire businessman had closed X's offices in Brazil earlier that month to avoid having to comply with separate court orders to suspend accounts that spread misinformation.
On September 2, Brazil's Supreme Court unanimously upheld the decision to ban X, with all five justices supporting it.
Explaining the decision, Judge Flavio Dino said: “A party that intentionally fails to comply with court decisions seems to consider itself above the rule of law.”
But that did little to calm the uproar, particularly among members of Brazil's far right, who viewed the closure of X as a violation of their free speech rights.
Bolsonaro, a leading figure of the Brazilian far right, took advantage of the moment to call for protests.
“When freedom of expression and freedom of the press are threatened, democracy cries out for help,” he wrote on social media on September 4.
“Therefore, I call on all Brazilians who love freedom and our democracy: Come to Avenida Paulista next Saturday, September 7!”
Bolsonaro himself has clashed with De Moraes, who previously headed the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), which oversees Brazil's elections.
In the run-up to the 2022 presidential election, Bolsonaro, the current president, spread misinformation about electoral fraud. After losing the election, Bolsonaro and his allies proceeded to contest the results, using unsubstantiated claims to sow suspicion.
The result was weeks of protests and a violent assault on government buildings in Brasilia on January 8, 2023, when Bolsonaro supporters ransacked the facilities.
De Moraes led the vote by the Superior Electoral Court to ban Bolsonaro from holding office until 2030 for his role in spreading false information.
At an Independence Day protest in Sao Paulo, Bolsonaro reiterated his false claims about the 2022 elections.
“The 2022 elections were completely biased by the president of the Superior Electoral Tribunal, Alexandre de Moraes,” he told the crowd, adding that the January 8 riot was a “set-up.”
