The supreme court of Brazil has officially suspended X in the country, following months-long tensions between a judge and the platform’s owner, Elon Musk.
The suspension comes after Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes opened an inquiry into X’s moderation policies earlier this year, amid concerns that the platform was spreading misinformation.
That inquiry was launched when Musk refused to comply with a court order demanding that X accounts supporting Brazil’s former right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, be blocked on the platform.
As part of the proceedings, Musk was required to appoint a legal representative in Brazil, but he failed to do so by the court-ordered deadline, which expired on Friday.
Now, thousands of social media users are unable to access X in Brazil, with the court instituting fines of up to $13,000 for individuals and companies attempting to use the platform via VPN services.
Responding to the ban on social media, X’s global affairs account wrote: “Soon, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be shut down in Brazil – simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents”.
In his own statement on X, Musk described Moroaes as “an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge”, and later said he was responsible for “shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil”.
Meanwhile, current Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said that “just because the guy [Musk] has a lot of money, doesn’t mean they can disrespect you.”
He continued: “[Musk] must respect the decision of the Brazilian supreme court… If not, this country will never be sovereign”.
It’s the latest escalation in tensions between Musk and Moraes that date back to April. At that time, Moraes was investigating dozens of accounts who backed Bolsonaro’s attempts to stay in power after his election defeat in 2022.
As part of the inquiry, Moraes ordered X to remove those accounts, and Musk’s refusal to do so — in the name of “free speech” — saw him become named in the investigation.
Then, earlier this month, Musk announced that X would shut down its offices in Brazil due to what he called “censorship orders” from Moraes. That move left the company without a legal representative in the country, triggering the nation-wide ban.
The suspension of all Brazilian X accounts deals a big blow to X, which already saw a 71.5% drop in value following Musk’s acquisition of the platform in 2022.
In other Musk news, the billionaire installed internet access for a remote Amazonian tribe in June, leading to a porn addiction crisis in the community.
Image sour: Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images and X.
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