A shaven-headed Brazilian judge nicknamed ‘Voldemort’ has taken down X owner Elon Musk and shut down the social platform over claims of misinformation.
The Alexandre de Moraes X ban began on Saturday morning, making the app inaccessible on the web and mobile apps.
A Supreme Court judge initiated the national shutdown after Musk refused to name a legal representative for the country, missing a deadline set by Moraes.
Moraes, 55, and Musk, 53, have been at loggerheads for months over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation – with the new ban the result of rising tensions.
Internet service providers across the country, which is home to 215 million people and is one of X’s biggest markets, completely blocked the platform yesterday and the country’s main news sites stopped posting at the same time.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered an immediate ban on X in Brazil starting on Saturday
X owner Elon Musk dubbed Moraes ‘Voldemort’ – comparing him to the evil king in the Harry Potter series
Musk furiously took X after the ban, saying: ‘The tyrant de Voldemort is destroying the people’s right to free speech,’ comparing de Moraes to the evil wizard in the Harry Potter series.
De Moraes said X would remain suspended until he complied with his order, and also set a daily fine of £6,790 for people or companies using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access them.
The Brazilian Bar Association on Friday said it will ask the Supreme Court to review the fines imposed by Moraes on all citizens who use VPNs to access the platform.
“I have used VPNs a lot in authoritarian countries like China to continue accessing news sites and social networks,” Maurício Santoro, professor of political science at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said on the platform before his death.
‘I never thought that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. It’s dystopian.’
The battle between the two began to escalate earlier this year as Moraes sued X-block users who appeared to be uploading false or clearly inflammatory posts.
Moraes ordered social media platforms to block certain accounts linked to an investigation into a so-called ‘digital militia’ accused of spreading fake news and hateful messages during the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
After Musk challenged the decision and said he would reactivate accounts on X that a judge ordered blocked, Moraes opened an investigation into the billionaire in early April.
Representative X eventually reversed course and told the Supreme Court that the social media giant would follow the legal ruling.
The platform was delayed after Musk refused to name a legal representative for Brazil
But in April, Moraes asked X to explain why he allegedly did not comply with his decision and ordered a fine of $20,000 per day for X’s reactivated account.
In response, the lawyer representing X in Brazil told the Supreme Court that an ‘operational error’ allowed blocked users to remain active on the social media platform.
Since then, the legal battle between the couple has become increasingly tense, as last Wednesday Moraes warned Musk that X will be banned if the company fails to notify the Supreme Court of Brazil’s legal representative.
The platform refuses to do so.
On Thursday, Moraes also froze the assets of the Starlink Holding company in Brazil, which Musk also owns, to ensure that fines imposed by the court are paid, several Brazilian media outlets reported.
The Tesla CEO responded to X by saying that Moraes was ‘the worst criminal, pretending to be a judge.’
In a separate post, he labeled the judge a ‘tyrant’ and ‘Brazilian dictator’ while adding that President Lula da Silva is a ‘dogdog’.
Hours after the judge’s decision, Musk said on X that Moraes ‘has repeatedly violated the law he has sworn to uphold’.
Moraes, who rarely gives interviews, and who in his latest statement on the subject has avoided mentioning Musk or X by name, said there: ‘We have the right to defend basic rights.
‘Those who violate democracy, who violate human rights, personally or through social media, must be held accountable.’