The blocking of social media platform X began Saturday in the wake of an ongoing feud between X owner Elon Musk and a Brazilian Supreme Court that led the court to order an immediate suspension of the social media site.
The shutdown made the platform largely inaccessible on both the web and mobile apps after Musk refused to name a legal representative by the deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The blocking impacts tens of millions of users in Brazil, which has been one of X’s biggest markets, per the Associated Press.
It follows a months-long feud between Musk and de Moraes, which escalated earlier this month when X closed its office in Brazil after the judge ordered the platform to remove posts from the site.
If X failed to comply, the judge said he would levy a daily fine of $3,650 and an arrest decree against its representative, Rachel Nova Conceicao.
The feud came to a head last week amid de Moraes’s threat to shut down the billionaire’s social media platform in the country. Musk clapped back, calling de Moraes an “evil dictator cosplaying as a judge.”
The next day, 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 until the company complies with all court orders and pays all fines, the court said in a statement last Friday.
“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.
X users in Brazil told the AP they expect difficulty in using other social media platforms in the wake of X’s absence and said they feel disconnected from the world.
“I’ve got the feeling that I have no idea what’s happening in the world right now. Bizarre,” entertainment writer and heavy X user Chico Barney wrote on Threads, a text-based app developed by Instagram, per the AP. “This Threads algorithm is like an all-you-can-eat restaurant where the waiter keeps serving things I would never order.”
Some legal experts questioned the grounds and enforcement of the decision, while some suggested it was an authoritarian move, the AP said.
The Brazilian Bar Association said last Friday it would request the Supreme Court review the fines imposed on all citizens using VPNs or other means to access X without due process, the AP reported. The bar contended the sanctions should not be imposed until an adversarial process is ensured, the news wire added.
Musk previously challenged an order from de Moraes in April ordering the platform to block certain accounts in the country and vowed to reverse the restrictions. However, X ultimately said it would comply with the rulings.
The Hill’s Julia Shapero and the Associated Press contributed.
