Brazil moves to block access to Musk’s X amid disinformation row

The decision comes after a months-long feud between a judge and X’s owner Musk over censorship and disinformation.

Telecommunications regulators in Brazil have begun the process of blocking X after the Supreme Court ordered the suspension of the social media platform for failing to meet a deadline to appoint a legal representative in the country.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Friday ordered the “immediate, complete and total suspension of X’s operations” in the country “until all court orders … are complied with, fines are duly paid, and a new legal representative for the company is appointed”.

Three of the country’s top telecommunications carriers said they would begin blocking access from midnight (03:00 GMT on Saturday), according to a report by local news outlet UOL.

The judge has been locked in a months-long feud with billionaire investor Elon Musk over disinformation and free speech.

At the core of the dispute, de Moraes argues that Musk refused earlier this year to block accounts responsible for the spread of fake news, hate speech and attacks on the rule of law.

At the time, Musk denounced the order as censorship and responded by closing the company’s offices in Brazil while ensuring the platform was still available in the country.

In his order on Friday, the judge called Musk an “outlaw” who intended to “allow the massive spread of disinformation, hate speech and attacks on the democratic rule of law, violating the free choice of the electorate, by keeping voters away from real and accurate information”.

Some 40 million Brazilians who use the platform will now lose access to it and face hefty fines of up to 50,000 reais ($9,000) per day if caught using an encrypted connection.

Musk snapped back at the court’s order. On Friday, he called de Moraes “an evil dictator” for shutting down the “#1 source of truth in Brazil”.

The judge’s ruling could cause X to lose one of its largest and most coveted markets at a time when Musk has struggled with advertising revenue for the platform.

While X remained accessible in Brazil late on Friday, some Brazilians posted on other platforms that their access to X was already being blocked.

Left-leaning President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who retook the presidency in 2022, defended the court order to suspend X.

“A lot of money does not allow you to disrespect Brazilian laws,” Lula said in a radio interview on Friday.

“Elon Musk is an American citizen, he is not a citizen of the world. He can’t offend presidents, congressmen, the Senate, or the Supreme Court. Who does he think he is?” he added.

Musk has been commended by conservative supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who say Lula’s government has silenced them.

Bolsonaro lost the 2022 presidential election to Lula after peddling unsubstantiated claims that Brazil’s electronic voting machines are prone to fraud.

Media experts say Musk has become a polarising figure, often siding with right-wing governments.

In India, he agreed with an order imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take down accounts and posts related to a farmers’ protest that swept through the country in February, their demands including guaranteed prices for their produce and debt waivers.

“Those that lead towards conservatives and the far-right will criticise judge Alexandre de Moraes and praise Musk, as you know, the hero of free speech,” David Nemer, an associate professor in the department of media studies at Virginia University, told Al Jazeera.

Musk’s satellite internet company Starlink has also been caught up in a dispute with Brazil’s Supreme Court which froze the firm’s bank accounts because of X’s unpaid fines.

Starlink on Friday asked the court to suspend its decision to freeze its local bank accounts, arguing it has complied with all judicial orders. That request was dismissed.

Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro said it was unclear how long X’s suspension in Brazil will last, but some experts predict Musk will eventually agree to the government restrictions “while claiming himself as the victim”.