Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court (STF) has suspended Elon Musk’s social network for failing to comply with Minister Alexandre de Moraes’ orders to block the accounts of people being investigated by Brazil’s judicial system. .
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A decision issued Friday by the country’s top judge, Alexandre de Moraes, said Mr. It is said that it must be done.
The platform was suspended nationwide at the end of August, and a panel of judges upheld the decision on September 2nd. Earlier this month, X filed a document with Brazil’s Supreme Court stating that it had not previously complied with the order but is now complying.
as Brazilian G1 Globo According to reports, if X fails to comply with the court order for two more days, he will have to pay a new fine of 10 million reais (approximately $2 million). X’s legal representative in Brazil, Rachel de Oliveira, has also been asked to pay a fine of 300,000 reais.
The case dates back to April, when Minister de Moraes of Brazil’s Supreme Court, known as the Supreme Court of Justice (STF), launched an investigation into Mr. Musk and Mr. X on suspicion of obstruction of justice.
Musk had vowed to defy a court order to delete certain accounts in Brazil. He called the court’s actions “censorship” and lashed out at Mr. de Moraes online, describing the judge as “.”criminal“And encourage the United States to end it.” foreign aid To Brazil.
In mid-August, Musk closed the X office in Brazil. That left his company without legal representation in the country, a federal requirement for all technology platforms to do business there.
By August 28, De Moraes’ court ruled that if X fails to appoint a legal representative within 24 hours and fails to comply with requests to delete his account, he will be charged with providing personal information or engaging in conspiracy to harm. threatened with bans and fines for doing so. Especially federal employees.
Earlier this month, the STF froze the business assets of Musk companies, including Company X, which operates in Brazil, and satellite internet business Starlink. STF said in a court filing that it views Starlink’s parent company, SpaceX, and X Corporation as related parties and companies that worked together.
Written by Musk Post to X at the time “Unless the Brazilian government returns SpaceX’s illegally seized property, we also call for mutual seizure of government assets.”
On August 29, 2024, in Brazil, STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Court ordered the blocking of the account of Elon Musk’s other company, Starlink, and guaranteed payment of the fine imposed by the STF . There is no representative of X in Brazil.
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As director of the STF, Mr. de Moraes has long supported federal regulations to curb hate speech. Online misinformation. His views have sparked a backlash from tech companies and far-right domestic officials, as well as former President Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters.
Bolsonaro is under investigationHe is suspected of plotting a coup in Brazil after current president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was defeated in the 2022 presidential election.
Mr. Musk has long worked with and praised Mr. Bolsonaro, while calling for retaliation against Mr. de Moraes and Mr. Lula. Brazil’s former president authorized SpaceX to commercially offer satellite internet services in Brazil in 2022.
Although Musk claims to be a champion of free speech, his track record suggests otherwise. Under his control, X removed content critical of the ruling party. Türkiye and india At the government’s insistence. X agreed 80% or more Year-over-year percentage of government removal requests in 2023, according to analysis by technology news site Rest of the world.
X faces increased competition in Brazil from social apps such as Meta-owned Threads and Bluesky, which have been attracting users during the outage.
Starlink also faces competition in Brazil from Espace, a French-American company that this year received permission from the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to provide satellite internet services in the country.
Lucas Darien, a lawyer and law professor at Fasex University Center in Brazil, told CNBC that the STF’s enforcement action against X will likely change the way big tech companies view the courts.
“The law has not changed here,” Darien wrote in a message. “But specifically, big technology companies now know that this law applies to them regardless of their size or the scope of their operations within a country.”
Representatives for Musk and X did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
Late Thursday, X Global Government Affairs posted next statement:
“X is committed to protecting free speech within the limits of the law, and we recognize and respect the sovereignty of the countries in which we operate. We are committed to ensuring that Brazilian citizens have access to X. “We will continue to uphold freedom of expression and due process of law through the legal process.” ”
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