Elon Musk‘s X, formerly known as Twitter, has been temporarily blocked in Brazil following a court order by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The decision came after Musk’s company failed to appoint a new legal representative in the country.
De Moraes, who has been in a public feud with Musk for months, ordered the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to limit access to X within 24 hours. Apple and Google were also given five days to remove the X app from their mobile app stores.
To enforce the ban, Brazil will impose daily fines of $50,000 Brazilian real (~$8,900 USD) on individuals who attempt to access X using a virtual private network (VPN). This move is seen as a strong measure to prevent users from circumventing the block.
Musk has responded to the ban with strong criticism, accusing de Moraes of “destroying” free speech for political purposes. He has previously accused the Brazilian justice of “censorship orders” and has closed X’s offices in the country.
The feud between Musk and de Moraes stems from the Brazilian justice’s investigation into X’s handling of misinformation. De Moraes has ordered X to block accounts linked to supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, which Musk has resisted.
X has argued that de Moraes’ demands violate Brazilian law and has vowed to publish all related court filings.
The ban on X in Brazil is not the first time a major social media platform has faced restrictions in the country. Telegram and WhatsApp have also been temporarily blocked in the past.
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