Jab Arens | Noor Photo | Getty Images
A panel of judges at Brazil's Federal Supreme Court has unanimously voted to uphold orders to suspend use of Elon Musk's social network X across the country.
One judge, Louise Fox, voted to uphold the decision, but expressed “reservations” about a measure that would allow the court to fine individuals or companies that engage in “circumvention,” for example by using VPNs, to use X while it is blocked.
The court’s top judge, Alexandre de Moraes, issued the controversial suspension orders late Friday after warning on Wednesday that Musk and X had 24 hours to appoint a legal representative for their businesses in Brazil or face “sanction of suspension of activities.” X had previously defied court orders to remove accounts or posts that it said violated Brazil’s laws on political misinformation and online hate speech.
The court also froze the financial assets of another company led by Musk, Starlink, a satellite internet service, in Brazil to ensure that his social network pays the fines it owes.
Brazil’s telecoms regulator Anatel has ordered internet service providers including Starlink to block access to X in the country until it complies with court orders. However, Brazil-based UOL reported that Starlink has told the regulator it does not intend to comply with the orders, and now faces the possibility of Brazil revoking its licenses to operate there.
The suspension of the X app in Brazil took effect early Saturday morning, making the app and website mostly unavailable to users in the country, a major non-NATO ally of the United States and with a large internet-using population.
Musk and his companies said they considered de Moraes’ actions “illegal” and that the court orders were issued without due process. The tech billionaire has been ratcheting up the insults and calls for de Moraes’ ouster throughout the week. Musk has been escalating his rhetoric over the Labor Day holiday in the United States.
He called for an end to US foreign aid to Brazil, adding that “there will be a mutual confiscation of the assets of those who support the current regime in Brazil to pay for their illegal actions,” without providing any evidence to support his statements.
On Monday, Musk called de Moraes a “criminal” and wrote in another X post: “Unless the Brazilian government returns illegally seized property to SpaceX, we will seek to reciprocate the seizure of government assets as well.”
The Associated Press reported that the blocking of X in Brazil “divided users and politicians over the legality of the ban,” and that many Brazilians “faced difficulties and doubts about navigating other social media in its absence.”
However, some social media users in Brazil are moving to other social networks. On August 30, Bluesky reported “unprecedented increases in user activity” in Brazil.
SpaceX and Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Musk has described himself as a champion of free speech, but his record has been inconsistent. While he has resisted orders to remove accounts or content from authorities in Brazil and Australia, X under his leadership has removed content critical of ruling parties in Turkey and India.
