Brazil’s Supreme Court orders blocking of social media platform X

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 31 (IANS) Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered the social media platform X to be blocked nationwide after the company refused to appoint a legal representative in the country.

Earlier on Wednesday, de Moraes gave X, owned by Elon Musk, a 24-hour deadline to designate a representative. X shut down its Brazil office on August 17, claiming that there were threats to detain its former legal representative.X had been in conflict with de Moraes for months over the platform’s refusal to comply with court orders to remove profiles that promote coup-related content or undermine democracy, Xinhua news agency reported.On Friday, the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) also ordered X to pay fines amounting to 18 million reais (about $3.2 million) for non-compliance.The judge justified the block decision, citing the company’s repeated, willful defiance of court orders and refusal to pay daily fines, accusing X of attempting to bypass Brazil’s legal system and create a “lawless zone” on social media, especially in the lead-up to the 2024 municipal elections.De Moraes added that X has facilitated “the actions of extremist groups and digital militias, enabling the spread of Nazi, racist, fascist, hateful, and anti-democratic speech”, particularly ahead of the upcoming elections.The Brazilian judge also instructed the country’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to block access to X within 24 hours. Apple and Google have been given five days to remove the X app from their online stores.Additionally, a daily fine of 50,000 reais (about $10,000) was imposed on any individual or company that uses methods such as VPNs to access X after the ban.–IANSint/sha