Brazil top court threatens to suspend X operations in dispute twist

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has threatened to block social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, within 24 hours if its owner Elon Musk does not appoint a legal representative of the company in the country.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court posted a screenshot tagging Musk’s and X’s Global Government Affairs accounts stating that under the country’s law regulating internet issues, companies that do not respect Brazilian legislation or the confidentiality of private information could have their activities temporarily suspended.

“In the event of non-compliance with the order, the decision provides for the suspension of the social network’s activities in Brazil,” it said.

In response, Musk posted on X that “this ‘judge’ has repeatedly broken the laws he has sworn to uphold.” Musk has posted repeated attacks on Moraes, including an AI generated image of the judge behind bars which threatened “One day, @Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words.”

The Court’s decision came amid an escalating dispute over content moderation and free speech on the platform, highlighting the Elon Musk-owned social media platform’s ongoing struggles with effectively managing harmful content.

Earlier this month, X had accused the judge of threatening its legal representatives in Brazil with arrest if the company did not comply with orders to remove certain content, and therefore announced the closure of its Brazilian office.

The platform shared images of a document allegedly signed by Moraes, which stipulates a daily fine of 20,000 reais ($3,653) and potential arrest if X failed to fully comply with his directives.

X added however that the social network would continue to function normally, with Brazilian users continuing to be able to access the social platform previously known as Twitter.

Tensions with Moraes have escalated in recent months following the judge’s request to remove some profiles of supporters of former president Bolsonaro from the social network, with Moraes previously ordering X to block specific accounts linked to this investigation.

Musk previously said that if X had complied with Moraes’s orders, “there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed.”