Dispute with Elon Musk Judge suspends X's operations in Brazil
A judge at the Supreme Court in Brazil has banned the short messaging service X from operating in the South American country. X had not appointed a legal representative for Brazil, according to a transcript of the decision by Judge Alexandre de Moraes, which was made available to the AP news agency on Friday.
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- According to AFP, a judge at Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the blocking of the online service X on Friday.
- Access to the platform must now be blocked "throughout Brazilian territory", according to circles at the Supreme Court.
- A 24-hour deadline had previously expired, which Judge Alexandre de Moraes had given the network on Wednesday to appoint a new legal representative for the company in the country.
De Moraes had given X owner Elon Musk a deadline of 24 hours on Wednesday evening to appoint a legal representative. Otherwise, the platform would be blocked until Musk complied with the demand.
The current order was preceded by a dispute between the judge and Musk over freedom of speech, user accounts with links to the extreme right in Brazil and disinformation on X, which sees itself as a victim of censorship. In April, de Moraes launched an investigation against Musk for spreading false news, obstruction of justice, sedition and criminal organization. In August, X announced that it was withdrawing all remaining employees in Brazil "with immediate effect" because de Moraes had threatened the company's legal representative in the country with arrest.
dpa