Brazilian Supreme Court panel upholds X ban
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Elon Musk at the U.S. Capitol on July 24. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Brazil's Supreme Court on Monday upheld a decision to ban Elon Musk's X nationwide, after the platform formerly known as Twitter refused to comply with orders by the country's top judge.
Why it matters: The unanimous ruling by the five justices comes as Musk accuses Brazil's top judge of acting as a "dictator" for suspending X in Latin America's largest nation over misinformation concerns and for failing to appoint a legal representative for the social media platform in the country.
- Musk claims Justice Alexandre de Moraes is "destroying" free speech "for political purposes," while X accused the judge of "censorship" when it announced the immediate closure of its Brazil offices last month as it refused to comply with the judge's order.
Driving the news: Moraes warned Musk he would suspend X in Brazil if the company didn't comply with his order by Thursday evening and the ban went into effect Saturday morning, but the judge asked the five-member Supreme Court panel to review his decision.
- Justice Flávio Dino, one of the panel, said X "seems to believe it's above the law" and noted economic power and "the size of a bank account do not give rise to outlandish immunity," according to a New York Times translation.
State of play: Moraes had set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for anyone using a virtual private network to access X and initially ordered Apple and Google to remove VPNs from their stories in Brazil, but a court statement said the judge had since suspended this aspect of the order to avoid disrupting other companies.
- The NYT notes that Moraes modified his order to warn that people who used VPNs for X to "engage in conduct that defrauds the court decision" would be fined.
- The judge last week issued an order freezing Starlink's finances in Brazil and preventing Musk's internet satellite business from conducting financial transactions in Brazil.
- Anatel's president told Brazilian outlet Globo News that Starlink had informed Brazil's telecom agency Sunday that it would not comply with the court order to block X in Brazil until officials released its frozen assets.
What they're saying: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told reporters late Monday that the "world is not obliged to put up with Musk's far-right ideology just because he is rich," per a Wall Street Journal translation.
Flashback: Moraes announced in April he was investigating Musk for obstruction of justice after the billionaire vowed to defy a court order blocking certain accounts on his platform as officials cracked down on misinformation spread on social media.
- The judge was investigating former President Jair Bolsonaro and his allies for making false claims about the 2022 election, which he lost to Lula, amid a wider investigation into "digital militias" spreading false and hateful information.
Go deeper: Elon Musk pushes back on Brazil X block
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, more details from the orders and further context.
