Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered the country’s internet service providers to block social media platform “X.” The New York Times The order reportedly arose after owner Elon Musk refused to appoint an attorney for his own lawsuit and refused to comply with Moraes’ orders to shut down X accounts that he deemed harmful to the democratic process. Publish online From a Brazilian news site: Poker360.
The Justice Department has set a deadline for telecommunications companies and major tech companies to remove X from their app stores and platforms. Apple and Google have five days to remove the social media app from their app stores. Brazilian telecommunications company Anatel Confirmed that the order was receivedleaving the country’s ISPs with just 24 hours to comply with the order.
Judge Moraes’ order goes beyond simply blocking the country’s access to X. It also makes it a crime to use the app through a virtual private network (VPN). Anyone who uses a VPN to access X could be fined 50,000 Brazilian reals (about $8,900) per day.
Judge Moraes also froze the Brazilian bank accounts of SpaceX’s internet service provider, Starlink, on Thursday, further pressuring Musk to comply with the court order. SpaceX, like X, is a private company majority-owned by Musk, and X has $3 million in unpaid fines related to a lawsuit in Brazil. A day earlier, Judge Moraes had threatened to ban X platforms across Brazil if the social media company did not appoint legal representatives in the country. After the deadline passed and no changes were made to the court’s docket, the judge followed through on his promise.
Starlink has voiced its opposition to the order and vowed to fight the ruling. The company even threatened to make its service free to customers in order to overturn the court order.
The legal battle between Moraes and Musk has been raging for months. The Supreme Court justice is also Brazil’s election official, and has issued orders to monitor candidates and stop the spread of false information online and through social media.
Brazil’s 2022 presidential election between notorious incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and challenger, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was reportedly rife with attempts to misrepresent voters. Judge Moraes was until recently president of the country’s High Electoral Court, which gave him the power to order the removal of content that violates previous court orders. The judge also issued a similar block against messaging app Telegram for failing to freeze violating accounts, which was lifted after compliance.
Musk described Moraes’ orders to remove or freeze similar misinformation accounts on X as a “censorship order.” Earlier this month, Musk said he would continue to refuse to comply with the court’s orders by closing X’s Brazilian office “to protect the safety of our staff.” X’s Global Government Relations Team He also promised to make public “Judge de Moraes’ unlawful demands and all relevant court documents.”
