A panel of the Brazilian Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld a decision by one of its justices to block billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, across the country, according to the court’s website. The strong backing from the justices weakens Musk’s and his supporters’ narrative that Justice Alexandre de Moraes is acting as a rogue authoritarian censor of political speech.
The virtual session panel included five of the court’s 11 justices, among them de Moraes, who last Friday ordered the platform’s suspension for failing to appoint a local legal representative, as required by law.
X will remain blocked until it complies with de Moraes’ orders and settles outstanding fines, which had surpassed $3 million as of last week, according to his ruling.
De Moraes also imposed a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for individuals or companies using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access X. Some legal experts, including Brazil’s bar association, questioned the legal basis for this decision and how it could be enforced. However, the majority of the panel supported the VPN fine, with one justice dissenting unless users are found to be using X for criminal purposes.
Brazil, one of X’s largest markets with tens of millions of users, now faces a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts, and misinformation.
