The months-long dispute between the online service X and a judge is escalating. Now the news platform, which is popular in Brazil, is being blocked. X owner Musk accuses the lawyer of censorship.
In the dispute over the appointment of a legal representative for the news platform X, a federal judge in Brazil has ordered the blocking of the online service.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Federal Court ordered the National Telecommunications Authority to shut down X in the South American country within 24 hours. In addition, companies such as Google and Apple must remove the X app from their online stores in the next five days.
X should name legal representative
Moraes made the decision after the news platform failed to comply with his request to appoint a legal representative in Brazil. X had closed its office in the middle of the month, saying it feared the arrest of its then representative.
Previously, the Supreme Court had ordered X to block the accounts of right-wing activists who spread conspiracy theories and misinformation. The news platform did not comply with the request and did not pay the imposed fine.
Musk speaks of censorship
X owner Elon Musk has repeatedly railed against federal judge Moraes in recent days and accused him of censorship. “Alexandre de Moraes is an evil dictator disguised as a judge,” he wrote on X.
Musk sees himself as a defender of free speech. However, his network was recently used in Brazil to mobilize for anti-democratic actions. So-called digital militias from the circle of the right-wing ex-president Jair Bolsonaro spread fake news and hate speech on social networks.
