A ban has been lifted on a "blasphemous" film depicting Jesus as a gay man, just 24 hours after it was axed in Brazil.
On Wednesday Rio de Janeiro judge Benedicto Abicair ordered TV streaming giants Netflix to stop showing controversial movie The First Temptation Of Christ as it had hurt the "honour of millions of Catholics".
The 46-minute, Portuguese-language clip billed as a 'Christmas special' sparked several online petitions with millions demanding it should be taken off air. Change.org has garnered 2.3 million signatures, while 1.4 million have signed another petition issued by conservative group CitizenGo.
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Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, called the film "garbage" on Twitter, according to the BBC, and slammed Brazilian YouTube comedy group Porta dos Fundos, who produced the movie, saying they "do not represent Brazilian society".
The group are known for making similar parody films and Netflix has a stake in the company along with Viacom.
However, Supreme Court president Dias Toffoli said on Thursday that Netflix should be allowed to continue streaming the show, stating a fundamental importance of freedom of speech in a democracy.
He said: "One cannot suppose that a humorous satire has the ability to weaken the values of the Christian faith, whose existence is traced back more than two thousand years, and which is the belief of the majority of Brazilian citizens."
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Porta dos Fundos's Rio headquarters were attacked with petrol bombs on Christmas Eve causing a fire in response to the film. No one was hurt in the attack but Porta dos Fundos said that it "endangered several innocent lives in the company and on the street."
Netflix said in a previous statement: "We strongly support artistic expression and we'll be fighting to defend this important principle, which goes to the heart of great storytelling."
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