A shaved-headed Brazilian judge nicknamed ‘Voldemort’ has taken on X owner Elon Musk and shut down the social media platform over allegations of misinformation.
X’s ban on Alexandre de Moraes began early on Saturday morning, rendering the app virtually inaccessible on both the web and mobile app.
The Supreme Court judge initiated the nationwide shutdown after Musk refused to appoint a legal representative in the country, missing the deadline imposed by Moraes.
Moraes, 55, and Musk, 53, have been embroiled in a months-long dispute over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation, and the new ban is a result of rising tensions.
Internet service providers across the country, which is home to 215 million people and was one of X’s largest markets, completely blocked the platform yesterday, and the country’s major news sites stopped publishing at the same time.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered an immediate ban on X in Brazil, which began early Saturday.
X owner Elon Musk nicknamed Moraes ‘Voldemort’, comparing him to the evil overlord from the Harry Potter series.
A furious Musk took to X following the ban, saying: “The tyrant Voldemort is crushing people’s right to free speech,” comparing De Moraes to the evil wizard from the Harry Potter series.
De Moraes said X will remain suspended until he complies with his orders, and also set a daily fine of £6,790 for people or companies using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access him.
The Brazilian Bar Association said in a statement on Friday that it will ask the Supreme Court to review the fines that Moraes imposed on all citizens who use VPNs to access the platform.
“I’ve used VPNs a lot in authoritarian countries like China to continue accessing news sites and social media,” Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at Rio de Janeiro State University, said on the platform before it was shut down.
“It never occurred to me that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. It’s a dystopia.”
The war between the two began to escalate earlier this year when Moraes demanded that X block users who posted clearly false or inflammatory posts.
Moraes ordered the social media platform to block certain accounts implicated in investigations into so-called “digital militias” that have been accused of spreading fake news and hate messages during the government of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro.
After Musk challenged that ruling and said he would reactivate the X accounts that the judge had ordered blocked, Moraes opened an investigation into the billionaire in early April.
Representatives for X eventually changed their stance and told the Supreme Court that the social media giant would abide by the legal rulings.
The platform was suspended after Musk refused to appoint a legal representative in Brazil
However, in April, Moraes asked X to explain why he allegedly had not fully complied with his decisions and ordered fines of $20,000 per day for any accounts X reactivated.
In response, lawyers representing X in Brazil told the Supreme Court that “operational failures” had allowed users who were ordered to be blocked to remain active on the social media platform.
Since then, the legal battle between the two has become increasingly tense, with Moraes warning Musk on Wednesday that X would be banned if the company did not notify the Supreme Court who its legal representative in Brazil was.
The platform refused to do so.
On Thursday, Moraes also froze the assets of Starlink Holding in Brazil, which Musk also owns, to ensure that fines imposed by the courts were paid, several Brazilian media reported.
Tesla’s CEO responded on X by saying that Moraes was “a criminal of the worst kind, disguised as a judge.”
In a separate post, he called the judge a “tyrant” and “dictator of Brazil” and added that President Lula da Silva was his “lapdog.”
Hours after the judge’s decision, Musk said on X that Moraes “has repeatedly violated the laws he has sworn to uphold.”
Moraes, who rarely gives interviews and has avoided mentioning Musk or X by name in his recent statements on the issue, said Friday: “We have the right to defend fundamental rights.
“Those who violate democracy, who violate fundamental human rights, whether in person or through social media, must be held accountable.”