In a dramatic escalation of the ongoing battle between Elon Musk and Brazil’s government, the Supreme Court has ordered the immediate blocking of X, formerly known as Twitter, after Musk refused to comply with a court order to block specific accounts and name a legal representative for the country.
The popular social media platform failed to meet the court-imposed deadline on Thursday evening which led to it’s suspension.
According to sources, the court order aimed to curb the spread of misinformation and harmful rhetoric on the platform, which has been a growing concern in the country.
However, Musk pushed back against the order, raising a heated debate about free speech and government overreach.
“They’re shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil,” Musk said in a post on X on Friday.
The standoff culminated in today’s ruling, with the Supreme Court mandating the blocking of X until further notice.
In his ruling, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered that X, formerly Twitter, be suspended in Brazil until it complied with all related court orders, including the payment of more than $3m in fines.
Moraes ordered the “immediate, complete and comprehensive suspension of the operation of ‘X Brasil Internet LTDA’ in the national territory.”
The apex court also ordered the freezing of satellite internet provider Starlink’s bank accounts in Brazil. Starlink is a unit of Musk-led rocket company SpaceX.
Brazil’s telecommunications regulator said on Friday it was suspending access to Elon Musk’s X social network in the country to comply with the order.
The court also ordered that those who continued to access X via VPNs be fined up to 50,000 reais ($9,000) per day.
When asked to comment, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva insisted that all businesses operating in the country must comply with their legal obligations.
“Just because a guy has a lot of money doesn’t mean he can disrespect (the law),” the leftist leader told local radio on Friday.
At an event on Friday, Moraes stated: “Those who violate democracy, who violate fundamental human rights, whether in person or through social media, must be held accountable.”
As at the time of reporting, access to the X platform, is no longer possible for some users in the South American country, who were presented with a message asking them to reload the browser without being able to log in successfully.