Brazilian supreme court poised to shut down Elon Musk's X

The portal X, owned by Elon Musk, announced that it expects to be shut down in Brazil. The deadline set by the Supreme Court to appoint a legal representative for the company in Brazil expired on the evening of August 29 Eastern Time. X stated that it expects Judge Alexandre de Moraes to order the closure of the portal "soon."

The court ruling aims to force X to comply with local regulations. Elon Musk stated that the platform was punished for "resisting censorship." Also, on August 29, the Supreme Court blocked the local bank accounts of the internet provider Starlink, also owned by the billionaire. The dispute over X has put the company on the verge of closure in one of its most important markets.

In a series of comments on X, Musk attacked Moraes, calling the judge a "evil dictator" in a pinned post. He also condemned the ruling to block Starlink accounts as unlawful and stated that this action "unfairly" punishes other shareholders, as well as ordinary Brazilians. Musk also announced that SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink, would provide free internet access to Brazilian users "until this matter is resolved."

A representative of the Brazilian Supreme Court informed Reuters that the decision to impose sanctions on Starlink is in response to the lack of legal representatives for X in Brazil. The law in that country requires that all internet companies have a local legal representative who can receive court orders and otherwise bear legal responsibility for the company's activities.

Musk's dispute with the Brazilian Supreme Court started from a case concerning "freedom of speech." At the beginning of 2024, Judge Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts linked to investigations into so-called "digital militias" accused of spreading fake news and hate. After Musk challenged this decision and said he would reactivate these accounts on X, Moraes launched an investigation into Musk's companies in Brazil in April 2024.

Elon Musk's approach to "freedom of speech" has long been controversial, not only in Brazil. After the billionaire took over the portal in 2022, moderation of hateful and false content practically disappeared. The billionaire has shown particular favouritism towards individuals with extreme right-wing views, such as Donald Trump and Andrew Tate. Musk reinstated their accounts, which had previously been deactivated for violating the platform's rules.

Accumulated digital and legal disputes may cause X to lose one of its largest and most desirable markets at a time when it is struggling with advertising revenue on the platform. Due to extreme content freely propagated on the platform, many brands have ceased to collaborate with the former Twitter in fear of their own image.

Source: reuters.com