Brazil Supreme Court Orders Immediate Nationwide Suspension of X (Twitter)
Brazil’s Supreme Court has on Friday issued an “immediate, complete and total suspension” of operations for X, formerly known as Twitter, within the country. This decision, as reported by The Guardian, was in response to the platform’s failure to appoint a legal representative in Brazil within a 24-hour deadline, which expired at 8:07 p.m. local time on Thursday (0:07 a.m. BST on Friday).
Approximately an hour after the deadline passed, X’s owner, Elon Musk, announced that the platform would not comply with the directive, accusing the country of censorship.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has had an ongoing conflict with Mr. Musk, issued the suspension order, stating that the ban will remain in place “until all court orders are complied with, fines are duly paid, and a new legal representative for the company is appointed in the country.”
PulseNets reported that the judge directed Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency to enforce the decision within 24 hours. The agency must then notify the over 20,000 broadband internet providers in Brazil, who are required to block access to X.
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In addition, Mr. Moraes ordered Apple and Google to “implement technological barriers to prevent the use of the X app by users of the iOS and Android systems” and to block VPN usage.
PulseNets spoke to sources who confirmed that individuals and companies attempting to access X via VPN would face a daily fine of R$50,000 (£6,800), as imposed by the judge.
