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Brazil’s supreme court on Friday ordered the nationwide suspension of Elon Musk’s X social network after the company vowed to defy previous court orders on content moderation and the appointment of legal representatives in Brazil.
The court’s top judge, Alexandre de Moraes, also ordered daily fines for people or businesses in Brazil who use VPNs or other methods to access X when the site is banned in the country, G1 Globo reported.
The court issued a statement via the Brazilian government’s website on Friday, saying it had ordered “the immediate and complete suspension of the operation of X, formerly Twitter, throughout the national territory until the court decision is complied with and the fine is paid.” The statement also said the order would be valid “until the company’s representative in the country is appointed.”
Brazil’s supreme court announced on Wednesday that Musk and X Corp have 24 hours to appoint a legal representative for their business in Brazil or face a “suspension of activity” there. The deadline passed on Thursday evening.
X said in a statement on Thursday evening that it expected de Moraes to die “soon,” because the company “will not comply” with his orders.
Brazil, a key non-NATO ally of the US, is currently preparing for October municipal elections. According to Brazilian law, social media companies operating in the country must employ people to handle government takedown news, including on political misinformation and incitement to violence.
X does not have a representative in Brazil, and said earlier this month that it will remove all employees from the country rather than face any possible arrest for not complying with court orders.
X’s suspension in Brazil could cause serious business problems for Musk’s existing social network. Brazil has a population of over 171 million active social media users, according to market research by Oosga.
Musk and his co-investors paid $ 44 billion to acquire the company then known as Twitter at the end of 2022. After making sweeping changes in the social network, then returning accounts that were previously banned and suspended, many major advertisers fled or chose to spend less . campaign there than in previous years.
Most recently, the World Bank stopped paying for a campaign on X after a CBS News investigation found ads from the organization appeared in racist posts from an X account that regularly posted “pro-Nazi and white nationalist content.”
One of X’s main investors, Fidelity, has disclosed in its financial report this year that the company’s value has fallen by more than 70% since its purchase.
Musk attacked de Moraes in a series of posts after a court had frozen the finances of Starlink – the satellite internet service provided by Musk’s aerospace venture, SpaceX – in Brazil. After the court fined X for allegedly violating Brazilian law, it froze Starlink’s finances in the country to ensure that the fine would be paid.
On Friday, Musk compared de Moraes to the movie villain, Voldemort, in a social media post.
This story is evolving. Please check back for updates.
