A judge at Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered the blocking of the online service X on Friday. Access to the platform must now be blocked “across the entire Brazilian territory,” according to sources at the Supreme Court. This escalates a months-long dispute between Judge Alexandre de Moraes and tech billionaire and X owner Elon Musk.
Moraes had launched an investigation against Musk in April, accusing him of reactivating illegal accounts. Musk then accused the judge of censorship. He expressed fears that X’s legal representative in Brazil could be arrested.
Previously, a 24-hour deadline given to the network by Judge De Moraes on Wednesday to appoint a new legal representative for the company in the country had expired – otherwise, X’s activities in Brazil would be “immediately stopped”.
As a result, Musk announced that he would close the X office in Brazil to ensure the safety of employees, which then happened in mid-August. People in the country were able to continue using the platform. Musk responded to the latest order on his platform by saying, “this ‘judge’ has repeatedly broken laws that he promised to uphold.”
On Thursday, judges also blocked accounts belonging to the satellite operator Starlink, as the company, like X, belongs to the empire of billionaire Elon Musk. This is intended to put pressure on Musk to pay fines that the court imposed on the X platform for ignoring court orders. According to a Brazilian newspaper report, the fines amount to the equivalent of up to 3.2 million euros. The Reuters news agency was initially unable to verify this amount.
On Friday night, Musk responded to the impending blocking with several posts on X. In the process, he called the judge in charge of the Brazilian Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, an “evil dictator.” The blocking of Starlink accounts was illegal because it “inappropriately” punished shareholders and ordinary Brazilians. He also announced that Internet access via Starlink satellites would be free “until the case is resolved.”
Musk has been at loggerheads with the Brazilian judiciary for some time. Moraes had ordered X to block the accounts of certain users who were spreading lies and misleading information. Many of the users affected are supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, some of whom do not recognize his defeat in the 2022 elections. Musk refused to block the accounts and spoke of censorship. A few weeks ago, he announced the closure of all X offices in Brazil because of this dispute. However, the service can still be used in the country.
