Alexandre de Moraes, minister of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court, has mandated the “immediate and complete suspension” of X (formerly Twitter) in Brazil.
In April, April, he had ordered the suspension of dozens of X accounts, on the basis of disinformation.
This decision will stay in place until X agrees to all court orders and pays penalties.
Elon Musk pushed has back: “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes […] Musk is an outright criminal of the worst kind, masquerading as a judge.”
But Moraes has simply ordered Twitter to appoint a legal representative to operate in Brazil, as per law – and its suspension was the result of a failure to comply.
At the same time, X closed its office in Brazil earlier this month, claiming that its representative had been threatened with arrest if she did not comply with orders it described as “censorship” – as well as illegal under Brazilian law.
Justice Moraes had ordered that X accounts accused of spreading disinformation (many supporters of the former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro) must be blocked while they are under investigation, reports the BBC.
The ban will be in place until X names a new legal representative in the country and pays fines for violating Brazilian law.
Last year, Telegram was temporarily banned over its failure to cooperate with requests to block certain profiles.
Meanwhile, Moraes is investigating Bolsonaro and his supporters for their roles in an alleged attempted coup in January of last year.
