Brazil Prohibits X Amid Censorship Dispute with Musk
Justice Alexandre de Moraes of Brazil's Supreme Court has mandated the blocking of X in the country and imposed hefty fines on VPN users. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Court of Brazil has mandated a complete shutdown of operations for X (previously known as Twitter), and introduced severe penalties for those attempting to bypass this prohibition.
Justice de Moraes has called for the silencing of multiple accounts on X that he claims are distributing “disinformation” and attacking him; however, the company's proprietor, Elon Musk, has declined to cooperate.
Last Friday, de Moraes decreed that X should be prohibited across Brazil, directing tech giants Google and Apple to withdraw the application from their stores within five days. He further warned of a daily fine of approximately 50,000 Brazilian real (about $8,874) for individuals using a virtual private network (VPN) to circumvent the block.
"Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes,” Musk commented following the order.
Musk further labeled de Moraes as “an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge” and charged that President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva is his "lapdog."
On the preceding Thursday, de Moraes issued an order to freeze the accounts of Starlink, a Musk-operated SpaceX subsidiary, citing it as necessary to secure the payment of penalties imposed on X for not designating a legal representative. Musk denounced this move as "absolutely illegal action" lacking due process and emphasized the distinct corporate identities and shareholder groups of X and SpaceX.
X’s Global Government Affairs team has reported that de Moraes had "threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts."
The team criticized the apparent disregard for their legal challenges against his actions as they were "either dismissed or ignored," vowing to disclose all pertinent court documents publicly to ensure transparency. "Unlike other social media and technology platforms, we will not comply in secret with illegal orders."
The U.S. embassy in Brazil has noted that it is “monitoring the situation,” and highlighted that “freedom of expression is a fundamental pillar in a healthy democracy.”
The conflict initially flared earlier in the year when de Moraes commanded X to block several accounts of stalwart supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro, accusing them of being “digital militants” who disseminate "disinformation" about him and the judiciary. Musk contested this, proclaiming the directive as contrary to Brazilian laws.
Olivia Brown for TROIB News
Justice de Moraes has called for the silencing of multiple accounts on X that he claims are distributing “disinformation” and attacking him; however, the company's proprietor, Elon Musk, has declined to cooperate.
Last Friday, de Moraes decreed that X should be prohibited across Brazil, directing tech giants Google and Apple to withdraw the application from their stores within five days. He further warned of a daily fine of approximately 50,000 Brazilian real (about $8,874) for individuals using a virtual private network (VPN) to circumvent the block.
"Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes,” Musk commented following the order.
Musk further labeled de Moraes as “an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge” and charged that President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva is his "lapdog."
On the preceding Thursday, de Moraes issued an order to freeze the accounts of Starlink, a Musk-operated SpaceX subsidiary, citing it as necessary to secure the payment of penalties imposed on X for not designating a legal representative. Musk denounced this move as "absolutely illegal action" lacking due process and emphasized the distinct corporate identities and shareholder groups of X and SpaceX.
X’s Global Government Affairs team has reported that de Moraes had "threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts."
The team criticized the apparent disregard for their legal challenges against his actions as they were "either dismissed or ignored," vowing to disclose all pertinent court documents publicly to ensure transparency. "Unlike other social media and technology platforms, we will not comply in secret with illegal orders."
The U.S. embassy in Brazil has noted that it is “monitoring the situation,” and highlighted that “freedom of expression is a fundamental pillar in a healthy democracy.”
The conflict initially flared earlier in the year when de Moraes commanded X to block several accounts of stalwart supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro, accusing them of being “digital militants” who disseminate "disinformation" about him and the judiciary. Musk contested this, proclaiming the directive as contrary to Brazilian laws.
Olivia Brown for TROIB News
