Brazil’s Supreme Court enforced a ban on the social media platform X nationwide after owner Elon Musk refused to comply with a court order to suspend certain accounts.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who led several anti-disinformation inquiries, had given X until roughly 8 pm time on Thursday to comply with a requirement to appoint a legal representative in Brazil. However, the X social media platform failed to comply with the order, Justice Alexandre de Moraes has informed Brazil’s telecom regulator to take the social media platform X off the air in the country within the next 24 hours.
Justice Moraes said Musk was an “outlaw” who intended to “allow the massive spread of disinformation, hate speech and attacks on the democratic rule of law, violating the free choice of the electorate, by keeping voters away from real and accurate information.”
After the X viewed Justice Moraes’s sealed orders, Elon Musk said “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes. Justice Moraes is illegally censoring conservative voices”.
Justice Moraes also froze the bank accounts of Musk’s second business Starlink in Brazil and said Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied—unconstitutionally—against X. Starlink which recently gained more than a quarter million customers in Brazil-said that it planned to fight the order and would make its service free in Brazil if necessary.
Earlier, X announced on August 17 that it was shutting down its Brazil offices, blaming the decision on censorship by Justice Moraes. The justice subpoenaed X’s Lawyer the following day, ordering the company to turn in the required documents.
“Elon Musk showed his total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the judiciary, setting himself up as a true supranational entity and immune to the laws of each country,” Justice Alexandre de Moraes wrote in his decision.
Justice Moraes said that the X social media platform will be banned until it complies with his orders, and also set a daily fine of $8,900 for people or companies using VPNs to access it.
Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, which has struggled with many difficulties after Elon Musk purchased Twitter in 2022. According to Emarketer 40 million Brazilians, access X at least once per month.
In April Elon Musk called Justice Moraes a dictator, giving new life to Mr. Bolsonaro’s right-wing movement. Mr. Bolsonaro and his supporters lauded Musk as a savior from a tyrannical judge.
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