A panel of judges at Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court has unanimously decided to uphold a nationwide ban on Elon Musk’s social network X.
Judge Lewis Fuchs voted to uphold the ruling, but expressed “reservations” about the order’s provisions allowing the court to impose fines on individuals or companies who “cheat,” such as using a VPN to use X while it is blocked.
The court’s top judge, Alexandre de Moraes, issued the controversial suspension order late on Friday after warning Musk and X on Wednesday that they faced “penalties of suspension” if they did not appoint legal representatives for their Brazilian operations within 24 hours. X had previously ignored court requests to remove accounts and posts for violating Brazilian laws against online political misinformation and hate speech.
The court also froze the financial assets in Brazil of another Musk company, satellite internet service Starlink, and guaranteed that his social network would pay a fine.
Brazil’s telecommunications regulator Anatel has ordered internet service providers, including Starlink, to block access to X in the country until they comply with a court order. Reported by UOLStarlink has told regulators it won’t comply with the order and faces the possibility that Brazil could revoke its operating license.
Brazil’s suspension of X took effect early Saturday morning, rendering the app and website almost inaccessible to users in the heavily internet-populated country, a major non-NATO ally of the United States.
Musk and his company have said De Moraes’ actions were “unlawful” and that the court order was issued without due process. The tech billionaire has been intensifying his calls for De Moraes’ contempt and impeachment for a week, and Musk escalated his rhetoric over the US Labor Day weekend.
He is from the United States Foreign aid Regarding Brazil, he said, “As payment for illegal actions, we will mutually confiscate the assets of those who support Brazil’s current government,” without providing any evidence to back up his statement.
On Monday, Musk called De Moraes “Criminal“and Another Post Regarding SpaceX, he said, “Unless the Brazilian government returns SpaceX’s illegally seized assets, we will also call for a reciprocal seizure of government assets.”
Associated Press Reported It said blocking X in Brazil “divided opinions between users and politicians over the legitimacy of the ban” and that many Brazilians “found it difficult and questionable to use other social media in the absence of X.”
But some Brazilian social media users are migrating to other social networks. Bluesky, August 30 Disclosed “Record high activity” by Brazilian users.
SpaceX and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Musk has billed himself as a champion of free speech, but his track record has been inconsistent: He has resisted orders from authorities in Brazil and Australia to remove accounts and content, while X, which he controls, has removed content critical of those countries’ ruling parties. Türkiye and India.
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