Social Media X Banned in Brazil : After social media company X (formerly Twitter) refused to appoint a legal officer in Brazil, Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Justice Alexandre de Moraes has issued an order banning X across the country.
On Wednesday, Justice De Morias gave Elon Musk’s company a deadline of 24 hours to appoint a legal officer. Earlier, on August 17, X had closed its office, claiming that its former legal officer had received threats of being sent to jail.
According to news agency Xinhua, X Company has been embroiled in months of controversy with Judge de Moraes for not complying with court orders to remove officials who were promoting news of a coup in the country and content that undermined democracy.
On Friday, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) also fined X 18 million riyals (about $3.2 million) for not complying.
The judge upheld the federal court’s decision, saying the company had repeatedly and deliberately ignored court orders and was not willing to pay the fines imposed. X was accused of circumventing Brazil’s legal system in the 2024 municipal elections and creating a “lawless zone” on social media.
Justice de Morias further said that X had “facilitated the actions of extremist groups and digital terrorists, helping to spread Nazi, racist, fascist, hateful and anti-democratic speech.”
The Brazilian judge also ordered the country’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to block X within 24 hours. Apple and Google have five days to remove X’s app from their online stores.
In addition, a fine of 50,000 riyals (about $10,000) per day has also been ordered on any individual or company that uses methods such as VPN to access X after the ban.
