The Brazilian Supreme Court on Thursday threatened to block social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, unless its owner Elon Musk complies with an order to appoint a legal representative for the company in the country.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes gave the order in an ongoing dispute between the company and the country over content moderation and free speech on the platform.
The Supreme Court had on Wednesday posted a screenshot and tagged 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.
Responding, Musk posted on X that “this ‘judge’ has repeatedly broken the laws he has sworn to uphold.”
Musk had previously posted repeated attacks on Moraes, including an AI-generated image of the judge behind bars with a caption. “One day, @Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words.”.
Earlier this month, X announced the closure of their office in Brazil, citing threats by the judge to arrest the company’s legal representatives as the reason for the closure, but assured its users in the country that the platform will continue to function.
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.
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.”