Brazil bans Musk's X following a controversy over misinformation.
_(cropped).jpg)
After missing a deadline set by a Supreme Court judge to designate a new legal agent in the nation, X, formerly known as Twitter, was banned in Brazil.
The social media site will be placed under "immediate and complete suspension" by Alexandre de Moraes until it complies with all court decisions and pays any outstanding fines.
The dispute started in April when the judge ruled that many X accounts should be suspended for allegedly disseminating false material. Elon Musk, the owner of X, responded to the ruling by saying, "The right to speak is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is undermining it for political reasons."
At least ten percent of the 200 million people living in the country are reportedly users of the social networking platform. Some users complained that they could no longer utilize the platform by Saturday AM. It shut down its Brazilian office earlier this month, claiming that its agent had received threats of jail for defying what it called "censorship" directives, which were against Brazilian law. Judge Moraes had mandated that X accounts, which included numerous supporters of the outgoing right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, get blocked while they were being investigated for disinformation. If any accounts were reactivated, he added, the company's attorneys would be held accountable.
For not following this decision, X has been threatened with sanctions, and Mr. Musk and the firm have joined critics in Brazil in calling the judge a left-wing liberal. The internet mogul and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer got into a verbal spat earlier this month over regulation of X, and this is only the most recent in a string of disagreements between them. According to the Reuters news agency, the president of Brazil's telecoms agency, which is in charge of suspending the platform, stated he is "proceeding with the compliance" to do so.
Judge Moraes has given businesses like Google and Apple five days to take X out of their app stores and prevent users from using it on iOS and Android devices. He said that users or companies who access the platform through virtual private networks, or VPNs, risk paying a fee of R$50,000 (£6,700). The judge's ruling states that until X appoints a new attorney in the nation and pays fines for breaking Brazilian law, the ban will remain in place. X has already stated that it would not abide by the conditions in a message from one of its official accounts.
"Soon, we believe that Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be closed down in Brazil – simply because we won't comply with his illegal demands to censor the views of his supporters," stated the post. The main problem here is that Judge de Moraes is insisting that we disobey Brazilian law. We will not do that at all."
Meanwhile, the Brazilian Supreme Court has previously ordered that the bank accounts of Elon Musk's satellite internet company, Starlink, be frozen. X received a reply from Starlink in response, stating that the "order depends on an erroneous conclusion that Starlink should be liable for the fines levied - unconstitutionally - against X." Following his decisions to impose restrictions on social media platforms throughout the nation, Justice Moraes became well-known. In addition, he is looking into Mr. Bolsonaro's and his allies' possible involvement in the January 8th, 2018, coup attempt.
X is not the only social networking platform to face pressure from Brazilian authorities. Telegram was temporarily suspended last year due to its noncompliance with requests to restrict specific profiles. Whatsapp, a messaging software owned by Meta, was also temporarily banned in 2015 and 2016 for defying law enforcement's requests for user data.
