Supreme Court in Brazil has suspended the operation of social media platform, X in the country.
TalkJudith reports that this comes after Elon Musk ignored the court’s deadline to name a new legal representative for X.
Presiding judge, Alexandre de Moraes in his ruling on Friday, ordered the immediate, complete, and comprehensive suspension of the operation of X in the country.
The judge told national communications agency to take all necessary measures to implement the order until X complies with all court orders and pays existing fines amounting to $3.28 million.
Also, Moraes declared that the court would impose a fine of $8,900 on anyone who uses technological subterfuges like virtual private networks (VPN).
The judge revealed that speech has been spread through X and is harming Brazil’s democracy.
Moraes said, “We have a right to defend fundamental rights. Those who violate democracy, who violate fundamental human rights, whether in person or through social media, must be held accountable.”
Before this, the judge had in April this year, ordered the suspension of dozens of X accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation.
Reacting to the court’s order, Musk accused the judge of violating free speech for political purposes.
X tweeted through its official handle, tweeted “Power to the people in Brazil and everywhere else”.
