Brazil Begins Blocking Elon Musk’s Social Media Platform X

AceBreakingNews – Brazil has begun blocking X after a Brazilian Supreme Court justice ordered the “immediate suspension” of the social media platform in the country

The ban came after the expiry of a court-imposed deadline for the company to identify a legal representative in Brazil.

The move is the latest chapter in an ongoing feud between Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and Elon Musk, which also included the freezing of the satellite internet provider Starlink’s financial accounts in Brazil.

Justice Moraes’s ruling entails a full and immediate suspension of X in Brazil until the company complied with all related court orders, including the payment of fines amounting 18.5 million reais ($4.8 million) and the nomination of a legal representative in Brazil. Telecommunications regulator Anatel was ordered to implement the suspension order, and to confirm to the court within 24 hours that it has carried it out.

Anatel told Reuters it was “proceeding with compliance”. In a bid to avoid the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent the blockage, Justice Moraes said that individuals or companies who tried to keep access to the social network that way could be fined up to 50,000 reais a day.

X had said late on Thursday, local time, it expected the Supreme Court Justice to order a shutdown “soon”. Mr Musk branded Justice Moraes “an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge” and likened his suspension order to “illegal political censorship”.

Earlier this year, Justice Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts implicated in probes of so-called digital militias accused of spreading distorted news and hate.

Mr Musk, denouncing the order as censorship, responded by closing the platform’s offices in Brazil. The platform’s services, however, remained available.

Amid the underlying feud over X, Brazil’s Supreme Court also blocked the local bank accounts of the Starlink satellite internet firm, which is 40 per cent owned by Mr Musk, leading the company on Friday to ask the court to suspend that decision.

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