Written by: Haim Ravia, and Dotan Hammer
Following the failure of X (formerly Twitter) to follow a Brazilian court’s order to suspend accounts alleged of spreading misinformation, the court in Brazil recently ordered a complete ban on X in Brazil. According to the court’s decision, the ban was issued because X has shut down the office of its legal representative in Brazil. X’s decision to do so came amid threats that its legal representative could face personal liability for failing to comply with the original order to suspend accounts alleged to have spread misinformation. X has called the order “censorship”.
The original decision to suspend certain accounts was directed mainly at accounts of supporters of the former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro. The court said that the accounts in question must be blocked while their investigation into misinformation is pending.
X’s owner, Elon Musk, criticized the court’s decision and attacked the presiding judge as “left-winged”. Musk also stated that “free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes.”
The court also ordered online application stores – Google Play and Apple AppStore – to remove X from their stores. Brazilians hoping to bypass the block using VPNs could face fines of over $8,000.
