Brazil's Supreme Court has issued a ruling to ban X, formerly known as Twitter, across the country. The decision comes after months of tension between the social media platform and Brazilian authorities over content moderation and legal compliance.
Key points of the ruling:
- Anatel, Brazil's telecoms regulator, has 24 hours to shut down X nationwide.
- Apple and Google are ordered to remove the X app from their stores and block its use.
- The ban will be lifted only when X complies with legal requirements, pays outstanding fines, and appoints a legal director in Brazil.
- Individuals found accessing X through VPNs face daily fines of approximately $8,900.
The court's decision cites X's alleged failure to comply with previous orders to remove accounts spreading hate speech and misinformation. Justice Alexandre de Moraes stated that X has turned Brazilian social media into "a place of total impunity, a lawless land."
This ban follows X's recent closure of its operations in Brazil, citing staff safety concerns. The company had been given an ultimatum to appoint a legal representative in the country or face a shutdown.
Elon Musk, X's owner, has previously criticized Brazil's content moderation requests, framing the issue as a matter of free speech. However, Brazilian authorities argue that the platform has failed to adequately address concerns about the spread of harmful content, particularly in the lead-up to local elections in October.
The Supreme Court has implemented similar bans on other tech platforms in the past, such as Telegram, but quickly reached agreements to restore service. It remains to be seen how X will respond to this latest development.
X, Google, and Apple have not commented on the court's decision.
