A Supreme Court justice has ordered the suspension of social media platform X — formerly known as Twitter — in Brazil following Elon Musk’s refusal to appoint a legal representative for the company.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes took action to suspend X’s operations in Brazil after the Aug. 29 deadline for Musk to designate a legal representative passed without compliance. According to an Aug. 30 report by the Associated Press, X’s Global Government Affairs team stated that the platform “would not comply with [Moraes’] illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
The situation regarding access to X for Brazilian users remains uncertain. Musk has publicly criticized Justice Moraes, labeling him “evil” and a “dictator” and accusing him of engaging in “illegal political censorship.” Moraes has been investigating X for allegedly facilitating and promoting misinformation related to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Despite the suspension order, reports from Brazilian X users indicate that they could still access the platform as of the time of publication. Statista reports that X has over 20 million users in Brazil, out of the country’s total population of approximately 217 million.
Furthermore, the suspension comes shortly after a related development involving another Musk-owned company. On Aug. 29, satellite firm Starlink reported that Justice Moraes had ordered the freezing of the company’s finances in Brazil. SpaceX, which is also owned by Musk, is the parent company of Starlink.
