In a dramatic escalation of a protracted legal battle, Brazil’s telecommunications regulator has taken steps to block access to Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter. This action follows a court order mandating the platform’s suspension until it fulfills several legal obligations, including appointing a local representative and settling substantial fines.
The court’s deadline for X to address these requirements has passed, prompting the regulator to enforce the suspension. Musk has denounced this move as unjust censorship and claimed that Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes is overstepping his bounds. De Moraes, however, argues that the regulations are necessary to combat hate speech online.
Despite the court order, X remains operational in Brazil as of Friday evening. The dispute has also impacted Musk’s satellite internet venture, Starlink, with its bank accounts in Brazil being frozen earlier this week.
To enforce the suspension, Brazilian telecommunications firms must block X’s traffic and prevent users from accessing the site through VPNs. Additionally, those circumventing the ban with VPNs could face daily fines up to 50,000 reais (about $9,000). Although the initial order included directives for Apple and Google to remove the X app from their stores and implement anti-VPN measures, these parts of the order have since been rescinded.
The standoff highlights Brazil’s unique judicial powers, as Supreme Court justices like Moraes wield considerable authority in making unilateral decisions. Despite Musk’s criticism of both Moraes and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has asserted that all businesses must adhere to legal requirements, the conflict shows no signs of abating.
Musk has accused the Brazilian president of being a pawn in Moraes’ agenda and vowed to continue providing Starlink services in Brazil during the ongoing legal struggle.
