Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes has ordered the “immediate and complete suspension” of Brazilian social media platform X, the BBC reported on August 31. According to The New York Times, the judge instructed Brazilian telecommunications companies to block access to X, which resulted in the platform becoming unavailable early today.
The ban was imposed after CEO Elon Musk failed to meet a court deadline to appoint new legal representatives in the country and will remain in place until the company complies with court orders and pays fines totaling $3 million.
According to X users, the judge also plans to impose a fine of $8,874 per day for using a virtual private network (VPN) to access X after the ban. Additionally, Google and Apple's app stores have been ordered to block access to the app within five days and comply with the ban.
In April, a court ordered the platform to suspend certain X accounts that were violating Brazilian law by spreading false information. Musk has defied the court order, defending freedom of speech as a fundamental right.
Last week, Musk closed his Brazilian office after Judge Moraes warned him he could face arrest if he didn't comply with his April order.
On Friday, Musk wrote to X:
“Freedom of speech is the foundation of democracy, and Brazil's unelected fake judges are destroying it for political purposes.”
Months of tension
Musk and Judge Moraes have been at odds for months, with Musk arguing that the judge is trying to silence conservative voices after Moraes ordered the suspension of X accounts, which are primarily owned by supporters of right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro.
X's official account posted the following yesterday:
“We expect that Judge Alexandre de Moraes will soon order the closure of X in Brazil, simply for refusing to comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
Additionally, opponents include a senator and a 16-year-old girl. X further stressed that Judge Moraes is forcing the platform to violate Brazilian law, which the platform will not do.
But Judge Moraes argues that Musk is obstructing his own efforts to clean up the country's internet. Calling Musk an “outlaw,” Judge Moraes' order said Musk intends to “violate the free choice of voters by alienating them from truthful and accurate information, allowing the wholesale spread of disinformation, hate speech, and attacks on the democratic rule of law.”
Musk's other businesses also face impacts
To pressure Musk and collect fines levied against SpaceX, Judge Moraes also froze SpaceX's satellite internet service, Starlink, funds. The order also bars Starlink from conducting financial transactions in the country.
Starlink said it plans to fight the order. In a post on X, the company wrote:
“This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be held liable for the fines unconstitutionally imposed on X.”
Starlink added that the order, issued in secret, did not take into account any of the due process guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution.
Another user, WSB Chairman, called Judge Moraes a “dictator” and said:
“If you try to read the news you can be fined more than a year's salary. We're living in 1984.”
Technology lawyer Preston Byrne noted that if Company X loses the fight in Brazil, the European Union, the UK, Australia and Canada will likely ban Company X next. But if Company X wins, “censorship regimes around the world will be shown to be powerless against the US and will rapidly collapse.”
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