On Monday, Brazil’s Supreme Court upheld a decision by one of its judges to suspend the social network X, owned by American billionaire Elon Musk, for failing to comply with a series of court rulings related to combating disinformation.
The platform was blocked in the country on Saturday morning, just hours after Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered its suspension for 24 hours. Judge Moraes, a prominent figure in Brazil’s fight against disinformation, accused Musk of showing “a complete lack of respect for Brazilian sovereignty and lawful authority.”
Moraes stated that X had ignored court orders and mandated the platform to appoint a legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours or face an immediate and total suspension of its operations in the country.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, responded by asserting that “freedom of expression is the foundation of democracy, and in Brazil, an unelected pseudo-judge is attempting to destroy it for political reasons.” However, judges like former Justice Minister Flávio Dino emphasized that freedom of expression does not exempt repeated violations of the legal system.
This suspension comes just over a month before the municipal elections, where the balance of power between the left-wing bloc of President Lula da Silva and the right-wing, which has embraced Musk as a figurehead, will be tested. According to estimates from the specialized site DataReportal, the X social network has around 22 million users in Brazil.
