X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is bracing for a potential ban in Brazil after missing a critical deadline to appoint a new legal representative.
The company, owned by Elon Musk, failed to comply with a 24-hour ultimatum issued by Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, risking suspension in the country.
The dispute between X and the Brazilian judiciary has been simmering for months, beginning in April when Justice Moraes ordered the suspension of several X accounts accused of spreading disinformation. Many of these accounts were reportedly linked to supporters of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.
Musk, who has publicly criticised Moraes, threatened to reactivate the suspended accounts, calling the judge a “tyrant” and a “dictator.”
X recently closed its office in Brazil, citing threats of arrest against its former legal representative if she did not comply with what the company labelled as “censorship” orders. In a post on one of its official accounts shortly after the deadline expired on Thursday, X confirmed its non-compliance.
“Soon, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be shut down in Brazil – simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents,” the post read.
The company further accused the judge of demanding actions that would violate Brazilian law, asserting, “The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that.” X has pledged to publish the judge’s demands “in the interests of transparency” in the coming days.
Justice Moraes had stipulated that X must name a new legal representative in Brazil and pay fines for alleged violations of the country’s laws. Until these conditions are met, the ban will remain in effect.
In a related development, the bank accounts of Musk’s satellite internet company Starlink have been frozen in Brazil, following a Supreme Court order. Starlink, a subsidiary of Musk’s aerospace firm SpaceX, contested the order, stating that it was being wrongly held accountable for fines levied against X. “SpaceX and X are two completely different companies with different shareholders,” Musk noted in a post on X.
Starlink, which received approval to operate in Brazil in 2022 under then-President Bolsonaro, plays a crucial role in providing internet services to remote areas in the Amazon. The legal troubles faced by Musk’s companies come amid broader scrutiny of social media platforms in Brazil. Justice Moraes has been at the forefront of efforts to regulate these platforms, particularly in light of investigations into Bolsonaro and his supporters for their alleged involvement in an attempted coup on 8 January last year.
X is not the first social media company to face pressure from Brazilian authorities. Telegram was temporarily banned last year for failing to comply with court orders to block certain profiles, while Meta’s WhatsApp experienced similar temporary bans in 2015 and 2016 for refusing to provide user data to police.
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