On Monday morning (Sep. 2), the 1st Panel of the Federal Supreme Court voted to maintain the suspension of the social network X, formerly known as Twitter.
Trying to avoid any further confrontation, Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink agreed to block the social media in Brazil.
Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), ordered the suspension of the social network on Friday (Aug 31st). The measure is valid until X pays the fines and appoints a representative in Brazil, a requirement of the country’s civil code. The minister also ordered the application of a fine of R$50,000 to anyone who uses a VPN to access the social network.
Moraes’ request aims to ensure that X complies with Brazilian laws and that the company pays fines that were imposed by the courts. The Civil Code prohibits foreign companies from operating in Brazil without a legal representative in the country.
X received fines from the Brazilian courts for disregarding Moraes’ requests to block profiles that attacked democratic institutions.
On Thursday (29/8), Moraes also blocked all brazilian accounts of Starlink. The objective of the decision is to guarantee sufficient resources to pay fines applied to X in legal actions.
Reactions
In Brazil, the ban of X has divided people along political lines. Right-wingers have called Moraes an “autocrat” who is endangering the country’s freedoms, while left-wing figures including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have supported the ban as an important way to reassert Brazil’s sovereignty. He has said the world is not obliged to put up with billionaire Elon Musk’s “anything goes” far-right agenda because of his immense wealth.
“The Brazilian justice system may have sent an important signal that the world is not obliged to put up with Musk’s far-right, who says anything goes, just because he is rich,” the president said.
Sources: Agência Brasil and CNN