By Canadian Press

Brazil Supreme Court panel upholds judge’s decision to block X nationwide

Sep 2, 2024 | 9:57 AM

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian Supreme Court panel has upheld the decision of one of its justices to block billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform X nationwide, according to the court’s website.

The broader support among justices deals a blow to Musk and his supporters who have sought to characterize Justice Alexandre de Moraes as a renegade and authoritarian censor of political speech.

The panel is comprised of five of the full bench’s 11 justices, including de Moraes, who last Friday ordered the platform blocked for having failed to name a local legal representative, as required by law. X will remain blocked until it complies with his orders and pays outstanding fines that as of last week exceeded $3 million, according to his decision.

De Moraes’ also set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for people or companies using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access X. Some legal experts questioned the grounds for that decision and how it would be enforced, including Brazil’s bar association, which said it would request the Supreme Court review that provision.

But the majority of the panel on Monday upheld both the block and VPN fine — with one justice opposing the latter, unless users are shown to be using X to commit crimes.

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Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, with tens of millions of users. And its block marked a dramatic escalation in a monthslong feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation.

The Associated Press