RIO DE JANEIRO – Recently, a Brazilian Supreme Court panel made a significant decision to uphold the block on billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform X nationwide. This decision, announced on the court’s website, has stirred up a lot of controversy and discussion.
The support for this decision among the justices is seen as a setback for Musk and his supporters, who have criticized Justice Alexandre de Moraes for his actions. Some have labeled him as a renegade and authoritarian censor of political speech. Despite the opposition, the majority of the panel, including de Moraes, stood by their decision.
Last Friday, Justice de Moraes ordered the platform to be blocked due to its failure to appoint a local legal representative, as required by law. X will remain blocked until it complies with the orders and pays the outstanding fines, which currently exceed $3 million according to the court’s decision.
In addition to the block, de Moraes set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for individuals or companies using VPNs to access X. This decision has raised concerns among legal experts and organizations, with the Brazilian bar association planning to request a review of this provision by the Supreme Court.
Despite the opposition, the majority of the panel upheld both the block and the VPN fine, with one justice disagreeing on the latter, except in cases where users are found to be using X to commit crimes.
Brazil is a key market for X, with millions of users in the country. The block on the platform represents a significant escalation in the ongoing feud between Musk and de Moraes over issues of free speech, far-right accounts, and misinformation.
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