A Brazilian Supreme Court justice ordered the immediate suspension of social media platform X throughout the country Friday, after the platform refused to name a new legal representative amid an ongoing feud.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes directed internet service providers and app stores to block X in Brazil within five days and ordered daily fines of 50,000 reais — or nearly $9,000 — on those who use virtual private networks (VPNs) or other methods to access the platform.
The order will remain in place until the company complies with all court orders and pays all fines, according to a release on the court’s website.
De Moraes ordered X Wednesday to appoint a legal representative within 24 hours or face a ban in Brazil.
The platform’s Global Government Affairs team said Thursday night that it expected the justice to “soon” order the platform to be shut down in the country “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
X closed its office in Brazil earlier this month after de Moraes ordered it to suspend certain accounts from the site. If the social media company failed to comply, the judge said he would levy a daily fine of $3,650 against the company and order the arrest of its representative, Rachel Nova Conceicao.
“Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purpose,” Elon Musk. the owner of X, wrote in a post Friday.
“The oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries,” he added in a separate post.
The feud between Musk and de Moraes stretches back to April, when the billionaire tech mogul initially challenged an order from the justice to block certain accounts on his platform. However, X ultimately said it would comply with the rulings.