Elon Musk’s social media company X (formerly Twitter) has been banned in Brazil after failing to appoint a legal officer as ordered by the Supreme Court. On August 30, 2024, Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued a nationwide ban on X, demanding that the company appoint a legal officer within 24 hours. Previously, X had closed its office on August 17, claiming threats to imprison its former legal officer.
18 Million Real Fine Imposed
According to Xinhua News Agency, X faced controversy due to its refusal to follow court orders for several months. The dispute involved removing officials who were promoting content undermining democracy and spreading false information about coups. The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil (STF) fined X 18 million reais (about 3.2 million dollars) on August 31, 2024, for not complying.
Ignoring Court Orders
Justice de Moraes justified the federal court’s decision, stating that X repeatedly and deliberately ignored court orders and was unwilling to pay the imposed fine. X was accused of bypassing Brazil’s legal system during the 2024 municipal elections and creating a lawless area on social media.
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Justice de Moraes also accused X of facilitating the actions of extremist groups and digital terrorists, which helped spread Nazi, racist, fascist, hateful, and anti-democratic speech. He instructed Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to block X within 24 hours. Apple and Google have been given five days to remove the X app from their online stores.
Additionally, anyone or company using methods like VPNs to access X after the ban will face a daily fine of 50,000 reais (about 10,000 dollars).
