Brazil’s Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Morais has ordered Brazilian internet service providers to block social media platform X. The New York Times The order reportedly stems from owner Elon Musk’s refusal to appoint legal representation for his case and his refusal to comply with an order to close the X account, which Moraes deemed detrimental to the democratic process. The order was posted online on a Brazilian news site. Power 360.
The judge has given telecom companies and tech giants a deadline to remove X from their app stores and platforms. Apple and Google will have five days to remove the social media app from their app stores. Brazil’s telecoms agency Anatel has confirmed it has received the order, and the country’s ISPs have just 24 hours to comply.
Judge Moraes’ order doesn’t just block the country’s access to X. It also makes it a crime to use the app via a virtual private network (VPN). Anyone caught accessing X via a VPN could face a daily fine of 50,000 Brazilian reals (about $8,900).
Judge Moraes also froze the Brazilian bank accounts of SpaceX’s Starlink internet service provider on Thursday, putting even more pressure on Musk to comply with the court order. Like X, SpaceX is a private company majority-owned by Musk, and X has $3 million in unpaid fines related to litigation in the country. The day before, Judge Moraes threatened to completely ban X’s platform throughout Brazil if the social media company did not appoint legal representation in the country. The judge kept his word, as the deadline passed without any changes to the court documents.
Starlink has expressed its opposition to the order and vowed to fight the ruling, even threatening to overturn the judge’s order by offering free service to customers.
The legal battle between Judge Moraes and Musk has been raging for months. The Supreme Court judge is also Brazil’s election regulator, which has been monitoring and ordering candidates to refrain from spreading false information on the internet and social media channels.
Brazil’s 2022 presidential election between infamous incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and challenger and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has reportedly been rife with attempts to disinform voters. Judge Moraes was until recently president of the country’s High Electoral Court, which has given him the power to order the removal of content that violates previous court orders. The judge also imposed a similar block on messaging app Telegram, which failed to freeze violating accounts, which was lifted after compliance.
Musk has characterized Moraes’s directive to remove or freeze similar misinformation accounts on X as a “censorship order.” Earlier this month, Musk continued to signal his refusal to comply with the court’s order by closing X’s Brazilian offices “to protect the safety of our employees.” X’s global government affairs team has also pledged to release “all court documents related to Judge de Moraes’ unlawful demands.”
