By D. Maan, Jadetimes News
X Faces Potential Ban in Brazil After Missing Deadline
X, formerly known as Twitter, has announced that it expects to be banned in Brazil after failing to meet a deadline to appoint a new legal representative. The social media platform had recently closed its office in the country, citing threats of arrest against its representative if she did not comply with what X described as "censorship" orders.
Legal Conflict with Supreme Court Judge
The dispute began in April when Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of several X accounts accused of spreading disinformation. X's owner, Elon Musk, responded by threatening to reactivate the accounts, calling Justice Moraes a "tyrant" and a "dictator." Moraes then gave X 24 hours to appoint a new legal representative or face suspension, with the deadline passing just after 20:00 local time (23:00 GMT) on Thursday.
Non Compliance and Potential Consequences
Judge Moraes' order stated that X would remain banned until it appoints a legal representative in Brazil and pays fines for allegedly violating Brazilian law. However, shortly after the deadline expired, X confirmed in a post from one of its official accounts that it had not complied with the order. The post stated, "We expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will soon order X to be shut down in Brazil simply because we refused to comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents." X argued that the judge's demands contradict Brazil’s own laws and pledged to publish the details of the orders in the coming days "in the interests of transparency."
Broader Implications for Musk's Companies
Justice Moraes had previously ordered the blocking of X accounts linked to supporters of former right wing president Jair Bolsonaro, warning that the company's legal representatives would be held accountable if any suspended accounts were reactivated. In a related development, the bank accounts of Musk's satellite internet company, Starlink, were frozen in Brazil following a Supreme Court order. Starlink responded on X, arguing that the order was based on a mistaken belief that it should be held responsible for fines imposed on X, which the company claimed were unconstitutional. Musk clarified that "SpaceX and X are two completely different companies with different shareholders." Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, had received approval to operate in Brazil in 2022 under then-President Bolsonaro.
Social Media Restrictions in Brazil
Brazil, as South America's largest country, represents significant opportunities for Starlink, especially in providing internet services to remote regions in the Amazon. Justice Moraes has gained prominence for his decisions to restrict social media platforms in Brazil and is also investigating Bolsonaro and his supporters for their alleged involvement in an attempted coup on 8 January last year.
X is not the first social media platform to face pressure from Brazilian authorities. Last year, Telegram was temporarily banned for failing to comply with requests to block certain profiles. Meta's messaging service WhatsApp also faced temporary bans in 2015 and 2016 for refusing to provide user data to the police.
