X, formerly known as Twitter, has been banned in Brazil after failing to comply with a deadline set by a Supreme Court judge to appoint a new legal representative in the country. Judge Alexandre de Moraes issued an order for the “immediate and complete suspension” of the social media platform until it fulfills all court mandates and settles outstanding fines.
The conflict originated in April when the judge ordered the suspension of numerous X accounts accused of disseminating disinformation. The platform’s failure to meet the court’s requirements has now led to its temporary shutdown in Brazil.
Reacting to the decision, X owner Elon Musk said: “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy, and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes.”
It is the latest in a series of rows involving Mr Musk – he has clashed with EU over the regulation of X and earlier this month became embroiled in a war of words with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer
The head of Brazil’s telecommunications agency, which has been tasked with suspending the platform, said he is “proceeding with the compliance” to do so, according to Reuters news agency.
The platform is expected to be unavailable in the country within the next 24 hours.
Justice Moraes has given companies such as Apple and Google a five-day deadline to remove X from its application stores and block its use on iOS and Android systems.
He said that anyone using a method like VPN (Virtual Private Network) to access the platform could be fined R$ 50,000 or £ 6. 7k.
In its ruling, the judge has imposed a ban to be in force until the company comes up with a new legal officer in the country and also pays for fines for breaching the Brazilians laws.
X is not the first social media company to face pressure from the authority of the Brazil nation.
Telegram has been banned for some time in the past because of the application’s inability to adhere to the instructions to suspend specific accounts.
The company’s messaging service WhatsApp was also banned temporarily in the year 2015 and 2017 for not sharing user information with the police.
SOURCE: https://dew360.net
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