Millions of Brazilians lost access to X (formerly Twitter) after a Supreme Court banned the social media platform for failing to meet a deadline to name a new legal representative in the country.
The fight between X’s billionaire owner Elon Musk and Justice Alexandre de Moraes began back in April when the judge ordered the suspension of dozens of X accounts – many of them supporters of right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro – while they were being investigated for allegedly spreading disinformation. Moraes said the company’s legal representative would be held liable if any accounts were reactivated and threatened fines for refusing to cooperate with the order.
Musk instead closed the X office in Brazil earlier this month, saying their representative had been threatened with arrest if she did not comply with the court order. With no new representative named, de Moraes gave the order, and the head of Brazil’s telecommunications agency said he is “proceeding with the compliance.”
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Justice Moraes also informed companies such as Apple and Google that they had five days to remove X from their respective app stores and block its use on iOS and Android systems. He added that any individuals or businesses found to be using VPNs (virtual private networks) to circumvent the ban – a tactic Musk openly encouraged in recent weeks – could be fined R$50,000 (US$8,900) per day. The Brazilian Bar Association said it would request a review of such fines without due process.
Some 40 million Brazilians, nearly one-fifth of the population, access X at least once a month and Friday saw hundreds inquiring about VPNs that could allow them to continue using the platform. Others jumped ship to alternative platforms like Threads and BlueSky. Moraes said the ban would remain in effect until X named a new representative in the country and pays its fines for violating Brazilian law; a post from an official X account said it would not comply with the demands.
X is not the first social media platform swept up in de Moraes’ crackdown on malicious disinformation. Telegram was banned last year over its failure to cooperate with requests to block certain profiles; the platform came into compliance and was reinstated in less than 48 hours. Elon Musk, a self-stylised free speech absolutist who has used his ownership of X to welcome back far-right voices en masse, has shown little interest in cooperation, instead demonising the requests as “illegal orders” from “an unelected pseudo-judge” motivated by “political purposes”.
