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Brazil's Supreme Court on Friday ordered a nationwide blockade of Elon Musk's social network X after the company said it was defying previous court orders on content moderation and the appointment of a legal representative in the country.
Alexandre de Moraes, the court's chief judge, also ordered daily fines for individuals or companies in Brazil that use virtual private networks (VPNs) or other methods to access X while the site is banned in the country, G1 Globo reported.
The court issued a statement on its government website in Brazil on Friday, saying it had ordered “the immediate and total suspension of the operation of X, formerly Twitter, throughout the national territory until the court decisions are complied with and the fines imposed are paid.” The statement also said the order would be valid “until a representative of the company is appointed in the country.”
A few hours later, the court issued a second order, suspending some of the measures in its first 51-page order against X. First, de Moraes gave companies like Apple and Google five days to stop offering downloads of X in their app stores and to stop providing VPN apps to access X. The second order removed that deadline and postponed implementation of those measures until further notice, giving X time to pay fines and appoint legal counsel.
Brazil's Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that Musk and X had 24 hours to either appoint a legal representative for their business there or face a nationwide “penalty of suspension of their activities.” The deadline expired on Thursday evening.
X's global government affairs department said in a statement late Thursday that it expected de Moraes to be shut down “imminently” because the company was “failing to comply” with its orders.
Brazil, a key U.S. ally outside NATO, is currently preparing for local elections in October. Brazilian law requires social media companies in the country to hire someone to handle government warnings, including those related to political misinformation and incitement to violence.
X does not have such a representative in Brazil and announced earlier this month that it would rather remove all its employees from the country than face possible arrest for failing to comply with court orders.
A suspension of X in Brazil could cause business problems for Musk's already struggling company. Brazil has a population of more than 171 million active social media users, according to market research by Oosga.
Musk led the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in late 2022. He implemented sweeping changes and reinstated previously locked and suspended accounts, prompting many major advertisers to reduce or completely abandon their ad campaign spending.
The World Bank has stopped funding campaigns on X after a CBS News investigation found that ads from the organization appeared under a racist post from an X account that regularly posted “pro-Nazi and white nationalist content.”
Musk attacked de Moraes in a series of posts after the court froze the finances of Starlink, Musk's SpaceX's satellite internet service in Brazil. Starlink has advertised on X under Musk's leadership and Musk has encouraged people in Brazil to use Starlink to access the social media platform.
The de Moraes court had fined X for alleged violations of Brazilian law and froze Starlink's finances in the country to ensure payment of the fines.
Critics of de Moraes see his court's orders against X as an overreach. His court has a history of blocking social media apps until they comply with the country's regulations. For example, Meta-owned apps Whatsapp and Telegram were both blocked in Brazil but have since been reinstated.
On Friday, Musk compared de Moraes to movie villain Voldemort, sharing a post describing “the evil tyranny of Moraes.”
Representatives of X and the U.S. Embassy in Brazil were not immediately available for comment.
Musk has repeatedly called de Moraes' court orders censorship. In his statement Thursday, X said the de Moraes court had taken “illegal action” against the company.
On Friday, after the suspension was announced, Musk said on X: “The oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of people learning the truth that it will bankrupt anyone who tries.”
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