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Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered the “immediate and complete suspension” of social media platform X in Brazil, the BBC reported on August 31. The judge ordered the country’s telecommunications agency to block access to X, prompting the platform’s shutdown earlier in the day, according to The New York Times.
The ban was imposed after CEO Elon Musk failed to meet a judge-ordered deadline to appoint a new legal representative in the country. The ban will remain in effect until the company complies with the court’s orders and pays existing fines totaling $3 million.
According to an X user, the judge will also impose fines of $8,874 per day on those who use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access X after the ban. Additionally, Google and Apple’s app stores have five days to block access to the app and comply with the ban.
In April, the court ordered the platform to suspend some X accounts that violated Brazilian laws by spreading false information. Elon Musk ignored the court’s orders, saying that freedom of expression was a fundamental right.
Last week, Musk closed his Brazilian office after Judge Moraes warned of imminent arrests for violating his April order.
On Friday, Musk wrote on X:
“Freedom of expression is the foundation of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes.”
Months of tension
Elon Musk and Judge Moraes have been at odds for months. Musk claims the judge is trying to silence conservative views. Indeed, Judge Moraes ordered the suspension of X accounts belonging mainly to supporters of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.
The official X account posted yesterday that:
“We expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes to soon order the closure of X in Brazil – simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
Among the opponents are an elected senator and a 16-year-old girl, he added. In addition, X stressed that Judge Moraes is forcing the platform to violate Brazilian laws, which it will not do.
Judge Moraes, however, claims that Musk is obstructing his attempt to clean up the country’s internet. Calling Musk an “outlaw,” Judge Moraes said Musk intended to “enable the mass dissemination of disinformation, hate speech and attacks on the democratic rule of law, violating the free choice of voters, depriving them of real and accurate information.”
Musk’s other businesses are suffering repercussions
To put pressure on Elon Musk and try to recover the fines imposed on X, Judge Moraes also froze the funds of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service. The order also prohibits Starlink from carrying out financial transactions in the country.
Starlink said it plans to challenge the decision. In a post on X, it wrote:
“This order is based on an unfounded decision that Starlink should be liable for the fines imposed – unconstitutionally – on X.”
Starlink added that the order, issued in secret, failed to comply with the due process guaranteed by the Brazilian constitution.
Calling Judge Moraes a “dictator,” another user, WSBChairman, noted:
“They’ll fine you more than a year’s salary if you try to read the news. This is 1984.”
Tech lawyer Preston Byrne observed that if X lost the battle in Brazil, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada would be next in line to ban X. However, if X won, “censorship regimes around the world would prove powerless against the Americans and would quickly fall.”
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