A judge has ordered social media giant X, formerly known as Twitter, to be taken down in Brazil.
Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes made the order after the site’s billionaire owner Elon Musk failed to name a legal representative in Brazil.
The judge and Musk have been feuding in public for months after X did not comply with legal orders to block certain accounts accused of spreading fake news and hate.
In the decision, the judge also ordered the payment of fines amounting to 18.5m reais (£2.5m).
Anyone who uses virtual private networks (VPN) to circumvent the block and access X could be fined up to 50,000 reais a day – equating to almost £7,000.
The head of Brazil’s telecom regulator Anatel has said it has received a court order to suspend X and is “proceeding with the compliance”.
Responding to the decision in a series of posts on X, Musk said Brazil is “shutting down the #1 source of truth” and its “oppressive regime” is “so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries”.
Alexandre de Moraes. Pic: AP
Brazil is an important market for X, which has struggled with the loss of advertisers since Musk purchased the company in 2022.
According to market research group Emarketer, about 40 million Brazilians – roughly 20% of the population – use the platform at least once a month.
X had said it expected to be shut down by the judge “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents”.
Elon Musk. Pic: Reuters
“When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment,” the firm added.
“Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored.
“Judge de Moraes’s colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him.”
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Accounts the platform has previously shut down on Brazilian orders include politicians affiliated with former president Jair Bolsonaro’s right-wing party.
Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist”, has repeatedly claimed the justice’s actions amount to censorship.
The judge’s order is based on Brazilian law requiring foreign companies to have representation in the country so they can be notified when they face legal cases.
His defenders have said the actions aimed at X have been lawful, supported by most of the court’s full bench and served to protect democracy.
