Brazil’s top court determined the immediate suspension of X in the country after its billionaire owner Elon Musk refused to name a legal representative for the social network in Latin America’s largest nation.
Brazil’s top court determined the immediate suspension of X in the country after its billionaire owner Elon Musk refused to name a legal representative for the social network in Latin America’s largest nation.
The banning of the platform formerly known as Twitter caps a monthslong feud between Musk and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is spearheading efforts to combat fake news and hate speech that he says are harming Brazil’s democracy.
X has been contributing to “an environment of total impunity and lawlessness in Brazilian social networks, including during the 2024 local elections,” Moraes wrote in his ruling, saying the company has repeatedly and deliberately disrespected court orders.
“Extremist groups and digital militias” have been using the platform for “massive dissemination of Nazi, racist, fascist, hateful and anti-democratic speeches,” he wrote, adding that anyone using VPN to access X would be subject to daily fines of 50,000 reais ($8,900).
Minutes after the ruling was published, Musk lashed out at Moraes on his platform. “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes,” he wrote. “The oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries.”
When asked for comment, X referred Bloomberg to a post from Thursday evening on its official Global Government Affairs page, which states the company plans to “publish all of Judge de Moraes’ illegal demands and all related court filings in the interest of transparency.”
The social media platform was still available Friday evening as Moraes’ ruling takes some time to take effect. Brazil’s telecommunications watchdog has 24 hours to implement the ban, the ruling said. Apple and Google have five days to block X in IOS and Android and remove the X app from their online stores, while Internet service providers must ban it over the same period of time.
Ahead of the decision, Brazilian celebrities, internet personalities and politicians, including President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, were bracing for the ban by tweeting social media handles on other networks to their audiences.
