Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered X to be suspended in the country after the social media platform failed to meet a deadline to appoint a legal representative in the country.
Late Friday afternoon, Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who has been in a dispute with X owner Elon Musk since April, ordered the “immediate, complete and total suspension of X’s operations” in the country, “until all court orders are complied with… fines are duly paid and a new legal representative of the company in the country is appointed.”
The head of Brazil’s National Telecommunications Commission (CNT) has given 24 hours to enforce the decision. Once notified, the agency must communicate the order to the country’s more than 20,000 broadband Internet providers, each of which must block X.
In an interview with Globonews, the agency’s president, Carlos Manuel Baigorri, said that the order had already been transmitted to Internet providers.
“As we are talking about more than 20,000 companies, each one will have its own implementation time, but… we hope that probably during the weekend all companies will be able to implement the block,” he said.
Judge Moraes also initially called on Apple and Google to “implement technological barriers to prevent the use of application X by users of iOS and Android systems” and to block the use of virtual private network (VPN) applications.
However, later that evening, the judge removed the portion that mentioned Apple and Google “pending a statement by the parties (X and Musk) in the case, in order to avoid possible unnecessary disruption to third-party companies (Apple and Google).”
The decision imposes a daily fine of R$50,000 (£6,800) on individuals and companies that attempt to continue using X via VPN.
The deadline given to X to appoint a new legal representative in the country expired at 20:07 local time on Thursday (00:07 British time on Friday). An hour later, Elon Musk’s social network announced that would not be fulfilled.
Musk responded on Friday, posting on X that Brazil was “shutting down the number one source of truth” and that its “oppressive regime” was “so afraid of people finding out the truth that they would bankrupt anyone who tried.”
The dispute began in April, when Moraes ordered the suspension of dozens of accounts for allegedly spreading misinformation, a request that Musk denounced as censorship.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva he said in a radio interview Friday morning: “Just because the guy (Musk) has a lot of money, doesn’t mean he can disrespect you… who does he think he is?”
X, formerly known as Twitter, has not had a legal representative in Brazil since August 17, when Musk announced that his company would close its operations in the country “with immediate effect” due to what he called “censorship orders” from Moraes. The service has remained available to users in the country.
Moraes’ April order to X to block some accounts stemmed from an investigation into “digital militias” that backed former President Jair Bolsonaro’s attempts to stay in power after his 2022 election loss. After Musk refused to comply, the judge included him in his probe.
On Wednesday, Moraes gave the company 24 hours to appoint a new legal representative in Brazil – a requirement for foreign companies operating in the country – “under penalty of immediate suspension of the social network’s activities.”
In the post announcing his failure to comply with the order, X said he “would not comply with his (Moraes’) illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
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Asked on Friday about Musk’s refusal to comply, Lula said: “Each and every citizen from anywhere in the world who has investments in Brazil is subject to the Brazilian constitution and Brazilian laws.”
The president said Musk “must respect the decision of the Brazilian Supreme Court… Otherwise, this country will never be sovereign.”
It was also revealed on Thursday that on August 18, a day after Musk announced the end of X operations in Brazil, Moraes blocked local bank accounts for Musk’s satellite and internet provider Starlink. The goal was to enforce fines imposed on X – as of this Friday, R$18.3m (£2.5m) – for refusing to remove profiles accused of promoting anti-democratic acts and fake news.
The two companies are part of Musk’s business empire, which includes rocket company SpaceX and electric car company Tesla. The billionaire owns X and 40% of SpaceX and is Tesla’s chief executive.
Legal experts have criticized Starlink’s decisionThey argue that this is a different company (although owned by the same person) and should not be held liable for matters related to X.
In an email to customers, Starlink criticized the decision, saying: “While this unlawful request may impact our ability to collect your monthly payment… we will continue to provide you with services for free, if necessary.”
Starlink, which is Amazon’s dominant internet provider, remains operational for now.
On Friday, Starlink filed a request with the Supreme Court to have Moraes’ decision suspended and its bank accounts unfrozen or, if that request is denied, to have the freeze limited to the total of the fines against X. There is no indication of when the request will be reviewed.