A Brazilian supreme court judge on Friday ordered tech billionaire Elon Musk's social media giant X to suspend operations in Brazil after the tech billionaire refused to appoint a legal representative in the country, according to a copy of the ruling seen by The Associated Press.
The move further escalates a months-long feud between the two sides over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation.
Judge Alexandre de Morais warned Musk on Wednesday night that he could block X in Brazil if he didn't comply with an order to appoint a representative, setting a 24-hour deadline. The company hasn't had a representative in Brazil since earlier this month. Judge de Morais said the platform would remain blocked until the company complies with the order.
Brazil is a key market for X, but the company has suffered a decline in advertisers since Musk bought the old Twitter in 2022. About 40 million Brazilians, or about a fifth of the population, visit X at least once a month, according to market research group eMarketer.
X posted on its official global government affairs page late Thursday that it expects to be shut down by De Moraes “simply for refusing to comply with his unlawful orders to censor political opponents.”
“When we tried to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened to imprison our Brazilian lawyer. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts,” the company wrote. “Our challenges to his clearly illegal conduct have been dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes' Supreme Court colleagues are unwilling or unable to stand up to him.”
X clashed with De Moraes after he was unwilling to comply with orders to block users.
Other accounts the platform has previously shut down at Brazilian behest include lawmakers from former President Jair Bolsonaro's right-wing party and activists accused of undermining Brazilian democracy.
Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” has repeatedly said the judge's actions amount to censorship, an argument echoed by Brazil's right-wing politics. He frequently insults de Moraes in his speeches, describing him as a dictator and a tyrant.
De Moraes' lawyers say his actions against X were lawful, backed by a majority of the Supreme Court's bench, and served to safeguard democracy at a time of crisis. His order on Friday was based on Brazilian law that requires foreign companies to have a representative in the country so they can be notified when a lawsuit is filed.
Luca Belli, coordinator of the Technology and Society Center at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university in Rio de Janeiro, said X could be taken offline as early as 12 hours after receiving the order, because operators are aware of the widely publicized conflict and their obligation to follow Mr. de Moraes' orders, which would not be complicated to follow.
