A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Friday ordered the suspension of Elon Musk’s social media giant X in Brazil after the tech billionaire refused to name a legal representative in the country, according to a copy of the decision seen by the Associated Press.
The move further escalates the months-long feud between the two men over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes had warned Musk on Wednesday night that X could be blocked in Brazil if he failed to comply with his order to name a representative, and established a 24-hour deadline.
The company has not had a representative in the country since earlier this month.
In his decision, Jude De Moraes gave internet service providers and app stores five days to block access to X, and said the platform will remain blocked until it complies with his orders.
He also said people or companies who use virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access X will be subject to daily fines of 50,000 reais (£6,800).
“Elon Musk showed his total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the judiciary, setting himself up as a true supranational entity and immune to the laws of each country,” JUdge De Moraes wrote.
Brazil is an important market for X, which has struggled with the loss of advertisers since Mr Musk purchased the former Twitter in 2022.
Market research group Emarketer says some 40 million Brazilians, roughly one-fifth of the population, access X at least once per month.
X had posted on its official Global Government Affairs page late Thursday that it expected X to be shut down by Judge De Moraes, “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents”.
“When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment.
“Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts,” the company wrote.
“Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes’ colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him.”
X has clashed with Judge De Moraes over its reluctance to comply with orders to block users.
The shutdown is not unprecedented in Brazil.
Lone Brazilian judges shut down Meta’s WhatsApp, the nation’s most widely used messaging app, several times in 2015 and 2016 due to the company’s refusal to comply with police requests for user data.
