A panel of Brazil's Supreme Court has unanimously upheld a decision to block access to Elon Musk's social media platform X across the country.
According to Breitbart News, the ruling, initially made by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, was supported by five justices on the court's panel. This decision comes amid an ongoing dispute between X and Brazilian authorities over content moderation and compliance with local laws.
The court's decision requires X to comply with previous orders and pay outstanding fines, which exceeded $3 million as of last week, before the suspension can be lifted. The ruling also imposes a daily fine of 50,000 reais (approximately $8,900) on individuals or companies using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access X. However, this provision has faced some criticism from legal experts.
The unanimous support from the panel of justices serves to strengthen Justice de Moraes' position in the ongoing conflict with Elon Musk and X. By referring his decision to the panel for approval, de Moraes sought to depersonalize the ruling and gain institutional backing for his actions.
Legal experts view this move as a standard procedure, with the option to refer cases to either a five-justice panel or the full bench. In this instance, de Moraes chose the panel review, which excluded two justices appointed by former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who had previously questioned his decisions.
The panel's support undermines attempts by Musk and his supporters to portray de Moraes as an authoritarian figure acting alone to censor political speech in Brazil. Instead, it reinforces the collective nature of the court's decision-making process.
Elon Musk has been vocal in his opposition to the court's decision, accusing Justice de Moraes of violating Brazil's constitution. In response to the ruling, Musk announced the creation of an X account dedicated to publishing the justice's decisions, claiming they violate Brazilian law.
The conflict has expanded to involve Starlink, Musk's satellite internet provider. De Moraes ordered a freeze on Starlink's Brazilian financial assets as a means to enforce X's compliance with the court's orders. However, Starlink has stated it will not block access to X until its accounts are unfrozen.
Musk asserts that he brazenly and repeatedly violated Brazil's constitution. This accusation comes despite the fact that he had sworn a solemn oath to protect it.
This defiance from Starlink poses a challenge for Brazilian authorities, as the company's satellites are not within national territory. The telecommunications regulator Anatel has indicated that the "maximum sanction" for a telecom company would be the revocation of its license, potentially leading to the seizure of Starlink's ground stations in Brazil.
X has previously complied with orders to shut down accounts of lawmakers affiliated with Bolsonaro's party and far-right activists accused of undermining Brazilian democracy. The platform's lawyers reported that since 2019, it had suspended or blocked 226 users on Brazilian orders.
The block on X has led to a mass migration of Brazilian users to alternative platforms such as Bluesky and Threads. Many users reported feeling disconnected from the world due to the suspension of X, which has tens of millions of users in Brazil.
The Brazilian Supreme Court panel's unanimous decision to uphold the nationwide block on X marks a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict between the platform and Brazilian authorities. The ruling reinforces Justice de Moraes' authority and challenges Elon Musk's defiance of court orders. The situation remains fluid, with potential implications for other tech companies operating in Brazil and the broader landscape of social media regulation in the country.
