Excerpt from Verdict Article, Published on Sep 02, 2024.
Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has been suspended in Brazil due to non-compliance with a Supreme Court order. The court, led by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, mandated that X appoint a legal representative in the country by 29 August 2024. The platform missed this deadline, prompting the Brazilian government to enforce the suspension. Despite the order, X remained accessible until late 30 August, with varying reports of access issues across the country. The suspension comes as Musk’s platform struggles with advertising revenue and amid rising tensions between Musk and Brazilian authorities over hate speech regulations.
Justice Moraes has been a strong advocate for regulating social media platforms to combat the spread of false news and hate speech. His ongoing dispute with Musk escalated after X failed to block accounts linked to these investigations, resulting in the freezing of Starlink’s bank accounts in Brazil. Starlink, another of Musk’s ventures under SpaceX, provides satellite internet services. The court ruling stipulates that X’s operations will remain suspended until the platform fully complies with Brazilian law, including paying fines and appointing a local representative.
To ensure compliance, Brazilian telecommunications companies are required to block X’s network traffic and prevent users from circumventing the ban through VPNs. The dispute has led to increased migration of Brazilian users to alternative platforms like Bluesky, which operates as a decentralized network similar to X but with a different governance model. Despite the ban, Musk remains critical of the court’s decision, viewing it as an infringement on free speech, while the Brazilian government continues to push for stricter regulations on social media content.
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