Brazil’s telecommunications regulator is suspending access to Elon Musk’s X social network in compliance with an order from a judge locked in a months-long feud with the billionaire. Consequently, the Brazil X block is now a major topic of discussion. #BrazilXBlock
The move followed the expiry of a court-imposed deadline for the popular social media platform to name a legal representative in Brazil.
Musk argues that Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes is enforcing unjustified censorship. Meanwhile, the judge insists that social media requires hate speech regulations.
“They’re shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil,” Musk said in a post on X on Friday.
X remained accessible in Brazil on Friday evening.
The feud led to the freezing of Starlink’s bank accounts in Brazil earlier this week. Starlink is a unit of Musk-led SpaceX.
In his ruling, Moraes ordered X, formerly Twitter, to be suspended in Brazil. This suspension will last until all court orders are met. The requirements include paying over $3 million in fines and appointing a local representative.
Moraes also ordered telecommunications regulator Anatel to implement the suspension order.
The agency told Reuters it was proceeding with compliance without specifying a timetable.
To effectively close X in Brazil, telecommunication companies will need to stop carrying the network’s traffic, while also preventing users of the site from dodging it by concealing their locations with virtual private networks, or VPNs.
Moraes further ordered that those who continued to access X via VPNs be fined up to 50,000 reais, or about $US9000 ($A13,298), per day. #BrazilXBlock
In addition, the Brazil X block might influence future regulatory actions across other platforms.
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