BRASILIA: Brazil's telecom regulator said on Friday it would suspend access to Elon Musk's social network X, formerly Twitter, in the country to comply with an order from a judge who has been embroiled in a months-long dispute with the billionaire investor.
The move comes after X missed a court-imposed deadline on Thursday night to appoint a legal representative in Brazil, triggering the suspension.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and Musk have been in a public feud for months, after X failed to comply with legal orders to block certain accounts accused of spreading “fake news” and hate speech.
X claimed that Moraes threatened to arrest one of the company's legal representatives in Brazil if he did not comply. Musk's platform had closed all its offices in Brazil due to what he called “censorship” by the judge, although its service had remained available to users in the country.
When will it come into force?
Moraes ordered the social media giant to be dismantled immediately in Brazil. The closure of the messaging platform could take hours or days, as Anatel has to communicate with telecom operators to stop X traffic.
The Supreme Court judge also froze Musk's Starlink financial assets by issuing an order blocking accounts on the satellite internet network that has rapidly expanded its user base in Brazil.
Moraes' motive was to cover unpaid fines worth 18.5 million reais ($3.28 million) that he had previously imposed on X for ignoring court orders. In response to a post mentioning reports that Starlink accounts had been blocked, Musk called Moraes a “dictator” at X.
How will X be turned off?
Under Brazilian internet laws, social media networks must have a representative based in the country. The judge said companies that break Brazilian law may have their activities temporarily suspended. Regulator Anatel has begun notifying operators to ensure they remove X. Users can still get around the block by using VPNs.
But to avoid that loophole, Moraes said that people or companies that try to maintain access to the social network in that way could be fined up to R$50,000 (US$8,909) per day.
