Musk’s X shut down in Brazil as legal clash escalates
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The news: Officials in Brazil suspended access to Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, after Musk defied Supreme Court orders to remove specific accounts and appoint a legal representative in the country.
The numbers: The blockage reportedly affects about 20 million users in Brazil, who rushed to alternative platforms like Bluesky and Meta’s Threads to voice their opinions and frustrations. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who issued the block order, threatened fines of nearly 50,000 reais ($13,092) per day for anyone using VPNs to bypass the ban.
The context: The escalation of the months-long conflict between Musk and the De Moraes followed Musk's decision to close X's Brazilian office and his continued defiance of Moraes' directives.
The suspension also follows the freezing of Starlink's bank accounts in Brazil and the imposition of over USD3 million ($4.43 million) in regulatory fines to X.
The dispute underscores the global struggle to balance freedom of speech on social media platforms with addressing the social detriments of disinformation and regulatory non-compliance.
What they said: Musk responded by calling the ban censorship and claiming “former Twitter employees were complicit in helping him (De Morales),” engage in “serious repeated & deliberate election interference in Brazil’s last election.”
He has said Starlink will keep providing free service to Brazilians, including the military, “until this matter is resolved.”
In an interview, Brazilian President Lula Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva said all companies operating in the country must comply with their legal obligations. “Just because the guy has a lot of money doesn’t mean he can disrespect you… who does he think he is?”
The sources: Reuters, The Associated Press, The New York Times
