Brazil bans Elon Musk's social media platform X: Here's why
Brazil has imposed a nationwide ban on Elon Musk's social media platform, X. The move comes after the Tesla CEO refused to comply with a Brazilian judge's directive to suspend certain user accounts. This incident marks a significant challenge for Musk's vision of transforming X into an unrestricted digital public forum. The order was issued by Alexandre de Moraes, a justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court, who instructed the country's telecom agency to enforce ban on X across Brazil.
X's non-compliance with Brazilian laws leads to ban
The ban was enforced due to X's non-compliance with Brazilian laws and its lack of a legal representative in the country. This followed Musk's decision to shut down X's office in Brazil after Justice Moraes threatened arrests for not adhering to his orders. The orders were related to the removal of certain X accounts that were allegedly violating Brazilian laws. Brazil, with its population of nearly 200M, has consistently ranked fourth worldwide in X app downloads since 2022, surpassing 25M.
'Musk is an outlaw who allows spread of disinformation'
Justice Moraes, in his order, said Musk was an "outlaw" who intended to "allow the massive spread of disinformation, hate speech and attacks on the democratic rule of law, violating the free choice of the electorate, by keeping voters away from real and accurate information."
X challenges legality of Justice Moraes's orders
X has disputed the legality of Justice Moraes's sealed orders and expressed intentions to make them public. In response to the ban, Musk criticized the judge on Friday, stating "Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes." This statement underscores X's stance on upholding freedom of speech as a fundamental democratic principle.
Justice Moraes imposes fines on VPN use, freezes Starlink's finances
In an unprecedented move, Justice Moraes has warned that anyone in Brazil attempting to access X through a virtual private network (VPN) could face a daily fine of nearly $9,000. Additionally, he has frozen the finances of another Musk-owned business in Brazil, SpaceX's Starlink satellite-internet service. This action is aimed at collecting $3 million in fines previously imposed on X by the judge.
Starlink to contest order, considers offering free service in Brazil
Starlink, which has recently gained over 250,000 customers in Brazil due to its growing popularity, has announced plans to challenge Justice Moraes's order. The company is even considering offering its service for free in Brazil if necessary. This move indicates Starlink's commitment to continue providing satellite-internet services despite the financial sanctions imposed by the Brazilian judge.
