Brazil’s top court has ordered that access to X be suspended in the country of more than 200 million people, as a prominent judge continued to lock horns with site owner Elon Musk.
Musk has been engaged in a months-long feud with Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes over X’s moderation policies. Earlier this year, Moraes opened an inquiry against X after Musk rebuffed a court order to block accounts supporting former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro that allegedly spread fake news and hate speech. The news of X being blocked in Brazil was first reported by the Associated Press and others.
The AP further reported that internet service providers and app stores in Brazil have five days to comply with the ruling. “Given the number of internet providers in Brazil, it might take a while to get the filtering measure fully implemented, depending on how they go about it,” says Isik Mater, director of research at Netblocks, a civil society group that tracks internet censorship.
“Free speech is the bedrock of democracy,” claimed Musk in a post on X after the announcement of the ban. He also alleged that Moraes was a “pseudo-judge” that was “destroying it for political purposes.”
Internet firms must have a legal representative in Brazil who can act as a go-between for the government and the corporation. X currently doesn’t have one, because the site shut down its offices in Brazil earlier this year after it said Moraes threatened the legal representative with arrest as part of the inquiry. A Supreme Court-imposed deadline for X to install a new representative passed on Thursday night.
“Soon, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be shut down in Brazil—simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents,” X’s global affairs account claimed in a post on Thursday night. “These enemies include a duly elected Senator and a 16-year-old girl, among others.”
Musk quoted that post and alleged that Moraes is “an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge.”
In its statement, X framed the court’s decisions as breaking Brazil’s own laws, alleging they are “illegal” and saying it would publish all related court documents.
Moraes’ office did not immediately return a request for comment.
On Friday morning, X appeared to still be available in Brazil, with users posting from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. But now, anyone caught using a VPN to access X will be subject to a fine of 50,000 reals, the equivalent of about $8,900, according to the AP.
Now, though, the suspension is imminent. Moraes already froze bank accounts belonging to Starlink, the satellite internet firm that Musk owns a portion of, this week. A statement from Starlink posted to X said that the company has a quarter-million customers in Brazil and that the action was an “unfounded” attempt to hold Starlink responsible for fines levied against X for failing to turn over documents. The company said it would seek a legal remedy.
A nation as large as Brazil blocking X would be a significant event regardless of the circumstances, but it’s worth noting that it comes amid a global push to reign in large platforms and their billionaire owners.
This week, billionaire Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France and charged with “complicity” in a raft of serious crimes occurring on the app, which has gained a reputation for being lightly moderated over the years. The arrest sent shockwaves through the global tech industry, with Musk commenting, “dangerous times.”
Updated 8/30/24 5:05pm ET: This story has been updated to reflect that the Brazilian court has ordered X be suspended.