Social network X is still not accessible in Brazil after being blocked by the courts. The American group has nevertheless appointed a legal representative in the country, a first step towards resuming service, but its suspension will continue until the platform meets other conditions, Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes decided on Saturday, September 21.
According to him, “not properly completed” All conditions for lifting the ban were met, and the judge gave the American group five days to submit additional documents.
The Supreme Court judge is in a standoff with Elon Musk, owner of X, over fighting disinformation in Brazil. X’s suspension in August came after the American billionaire refused to remove dozens of far-right accounts accused of spreading fake news, and because he had not appointed a new legal representative in the country, as he had been ordered to. X has around 22 million users in Latin America’s largest country.
The judge also sentenced X to pay a fine of at least 5 million reais (810,000 euros) for violating the suspension order on Thursday, when the platform became accessible again a few hours after a technical maneuver that bypassed the government blockade. X denied having acted intentionally, saying it was the consequence “involuntary and temporary” a change of network provider. She was blocked again.
Disinformation
For Judge Moraes, X deliberately participated in efforts “malicious, unlawful and persistent” to challenge Brazilian justice. Elon Musk described the magistrate as “evil dictator” either “Voldemort”the villain of the series harry potterwhile the Brazilian judge insisted that X could not be allowed to spread disinformation that could endanger democracy.
The suspension was welcomed by Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, while right-wing opposition and far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro denounced it as unconstitutional censorship.
The judge also froze the social security assets for having defied court decisions.
