A Supreme Court justice ordered social media platform X — formerly Twitter — suspended in Brazil after Elon Musk refused to name a legal representative for the firm.
According to an Aug. 30 Associated Press report, Justice Alexandre de Moraes followed through with his intention to shut down X’s Brazilian operations if Musk failed to appoint a legal representative by Aug. 29. X’s Global Government Affairs team said the platform “would not comply with [Moraes’] illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
It’s unclear what X’s next move may be for Brazilian users. Musk has made many posts claiming Justice Moraes was “evil” and a “dictator” for his alleged “illegal political censorship.” Moraes had been investigating X for allowing and promoting misinformation related to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Related: Mark Zuckerberg says he ‘regrets’ bowing to COVID-19 censorship pressure
At the time of publication, Brazilian X users reported they could still access the social media platform. According to Statista, more than 20 million of the country’s roughly 217 million residents use X.
The order followed satellite firm Starlink reporting on Aug. 29 that Justice Moraes had ordered the company’s finances in Brazil frozen. SpaceX, also owned by Musk, is the parent company of Starlink.
Magazine: Elon Musk is worth 100K followers: Yat Siu, X Hall of Flame
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.