Elon Musk’s social networking platform X (formerly Twitter) is in troubled waters, once again. A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has banned X in the country amid a disinformation feud. The ban on X in Brazil was imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre De Moraes on Friday. The “immediate suspension” was put on the networking platform after Musk failed to designate a new legal representative in Brazil.
X is banned in Brazil as it failed to comply with local content moderation laws
Supreme Court Justice Moraes banned X in Brazil after the networking platform failed to comply with local content moderation laws. The ban is part of the ongoing dispute with the country’s court over the censorship and moderation of content on X. Notably, the Brazilian judge ordered X to appoint a new legal representative in the country, which Musk refused to comply with.
Moraes ordered the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to suspend X within 24 hours. Furthermore, he gave tech giants like Apple and Google five days to remove the X app from their app stores. Additionally, the government will levy daily fines on individuals who try to access X using VPN services. Individuals and companies who try to access X could be fined up to 50,000 reais (around $8,900) per day.
X operations in Brazil are suspended until all court orders are complied with
The Brazilian judge has suspended X’s operations in the country until all related court orders are complied with. These also include the payment of fines of around 18.5 million reais (approx. $3.28 million). The company is also asked to appoint a legal representative in Brazil.
Notably, Elon Musk shut down X’s offices in Brazil earlier this month. The tech billionaire said that Judge Moraes threatened to arrest the social networking platform’s representative for not complying with “censorship orders”. “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes,” Musk said in a statement on X following the decision.
It’s worth mentioning that the Brazilian Supreme Court also froze Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink’s financial accounts in Brazil. Starlink argues that the freeze is based on an unfounded determination that it should be accountable for the fines imposed on X.
2024-08-31 15:05:18