Brazil Turned off X, Supreme Court to Weigh In
X is offline in Brazil following a ruling from Brazilian Supreme Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The judge also ordered companies like Apple and Google to remove X from their app stores and block the X app from functioning on their mobile devices.
The suspension results from X’s refusal to comply with local Brazilian laws. It refused to appoint a legal representative in the country and take down posts deemed illegal in Brazil.
Any company or individual found to be continuing to use the app through VPNs will face a fine of nearly $9,000. Justice Moraes has also frozen assets from Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband company to cover X’s fines.
The key issue comes from a difference in how the US and Brazil define and protect free speech. In Brazil, platforms aren’t responsible for what users post, just like in the US. But if they know about harmful posts – like disinformation, threats, or hate speech, which aren’t protected under Brazilian law – they can be held legally accountable if they don’t take them down.
X could come back online as soon as it complies with the orders to remove the restricted content and assign a legal representative in the country.
Leading up to and following the ban, Musk has responded by personally attacking the judge through his account on X, calling him a “fake judge”, “Brazil’s Voldermort,” and a “criminal”. Musk has called on the US government to stop sending aid to Brazil and freeze Brazilian government assets.
In the first five days following the ban, one of X’s competitors, Bluesky, had more than 500,000 new users sign up.
Right-wing party Partido Novo has filed a suit to reverse the ban, claiming that Justice Moraes’ ruling was unconstitutional. Justice Nunes Marques has requested that the case be reviewed by the full 11-member Supreme Court, saying, “The constitutional controversy conveyed in this argument is sensitive and has special repercussions for public and social order, so I consider it pertinent to submit it for consideration of the full Supreme Court.”
