Brazil’s Supreme Court is expected to block access to X in the country of over 200 million people, as a prominent judge is at odds with the site’s owner, Elon Musk.
Musk has been at odds for months with Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes over X’s moderation policies. Earlier this year, Moraes launched an investigation into X after Musk refused to comply with a court order to block accounts supporting former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro for allegedly spreading fake news and hate speech.
Internet companies are required to have a legal representative in Brazil to act as an intermediary between the government and the company. X currently has no such representative because the site closed its Brazilian office earlier this year after Moraes allegedly threatened to arrest the legal representative as part of an investigation. A Supreme Court deadline for X to appoint a new representative passed Thursday night.
“Soon, Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order the closure of X in Brazil, simply for refusing to comply with his unlawful orders to censor his political opponents,” X’s international affairs account claimed in a post Thursday night. “These opponents include duly elected senators and a 16-year-old girl.”
Musk cited the post, claiming that Moraes was “an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge.”
In a statement, X argued that the court’s decision was “illegal” and violated Brazilian law, and said it would make public all relevant court documents.
Moraes’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As of Friday morning, the X still appeared to be available in Brazil, with users in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro posting about it.
Still, movement appears to be underway. Moraes has already frozen the bank accounts of Starlink, a satellite internet company partly owned by Musk, this week. Starlink has 250,000 customers in Brazil, and in a statement to X it called the move a “baseless” attempt to hold Starlink responsible for fines imposed on X for failing to submit paperwork. The company said it would seek legal redress.
While a large country like Brazil blocking X would be a significant event regardless of the circumstances, it is notable that it is happening amid a global move to rein in large platforms and their billionaire owners.
This week, billionaire Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France and charged with “complicity” in a series of serious crimes that took place on the app, which has long had a reputation for being loosely regulated. The arrest sent shock waves through the global tech industry and prompted Musk to comment that “these are dangerous times.”
(TagToTranslate) Elon Musk
