Brazil Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes ruled to immediately suspend the operation of the X social platform in the country, Reuters reported citing a court document.
According to the report, the court ruling was issued after X owner Elon Musk refused to appoint its legal representative in Brazil.
On august 17, X announced that it would shut down its office in Brazil due to threats to its employees. The company claimed that it was able to obtain a secret order by de Moraes, who threatened to arrest the office’s legal advisor unless the social platform bans certain accounts. The social media was to remain available to Brazilian users at the time.
In April, CNN Brazil reported that X forwarded the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court’s demand to moderate the content to the US Congress. According to Brazilian media, Musk accused de Moraes of violation of the Constitution by attempting to achieve the blocking of the accounts of several supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro. The billionaire offered the judge to resign, threatening to make his demands to block certain accounts public.
De Moraes ruled to carry out an investigation of the reports claiming that Musk obstructed the Brazilian justice and use the social platform to “spread disinformation and to destabilize institutions of a democratic legal state.” The judge warned that the republican authorities will not tolerate a situation, when “billionaires living abroad control social platforms, find it possible to violate the law, ignore court rulings and threaten Brazilian agencies.”.
Source: TASS
