Judge orders shutdown of Elon Musk’s X in Brazil

Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes on Friday ordered Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, to immediately suspend its operations within Brazil.

The social media network closed its office in the country earlier this month rather than obey an order from the judge to block dozens accounts being investigated over fake news or hate speech, an order Musk denounced as censorship.

Feud over X

Amid the feud over X, the court also blocked the local bank accounts of satellite firm Starlink, which is 40 percent owned by Musk, leading the company on Friday to ask the court to suspend its decision. 

In the decision, Moraes ordered the full and immediate suspension of X in the country until all related court orders on X were complied with, including the payment of fines amounting 18.5 million reais ($3.28 million) and the nomination of a legal representative in Brazil.

Moraes ordered telecomunications regulator Anatel to implement the suspension order, and to confirm to the court within 24 hours that it has carried it out.

In a bid to avoid the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent the blockage, 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 said late on Thursday that it expected Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to order a shutdown “soon,” after a court-imposed deadline expired for the company to identify a legal representative in Brazil.

Elon Musk denounced the order as censorship

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

Musk, denouncing the order as censorship, responded by closing the platform’s offices in Brazil. X, said at the time that its services would still be available in Brazil.

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% owned by Musk, leading the company on Friday to ask the court to suspend that decision.