Elon Musk’s X forced to shut down in Brazil

The social media platform X (formerly Twitter) was ordered to be taken down in Brazil ‘immediately.’

A top Brazilian judge has ordered the X – owned by the controversial tech tycoon Elon Musk – to be suspended.

Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes ruled for the suspension today after Musk failed to name a legal representative in Latin America’s most populous country.

It comes after a feud between the judge and Musk after X failed to comply with legal orders to block accounts accused of peddling fake new and hate, Sky News reports.

The judge also told the company to pay £2.5 million fines (18.5 million reais) and to nominate a legal representative.

Twitter users are not let off lightly – anyone found using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access X risks a fine of up to 50,000 reais a day – around £7,000.

The judge ordered an ‘immediate, complete and total suspension’ of its operations until the fines are paid and a new legal representative has been appointed.

Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency was given 24 hours to enforce the order, the Guardian reports. This means the agency now has to pass the order on to more than 20,000 broadband internet providers and each must block X.

All companies are expected to be able to implement the block ‘probably over the weekend,’ the agency’s president Carlos Manuel Baigorri said, the outlet reports citing broadcaster Globonews.

The row between Musk and Moraes has been escalating since April when the judge ordered to block accounts following a probe into ‘digital militias’ who reportedly backed former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro’s attempts to stay in power after his 2022 election defeat, according to the Guardian.

The order also includes the freezing of Starlink’s financial accounts – a satellite internet provider owned by the SpaceX founded by Musk in 2002.

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