Following almost a month of being blocked in Brazil, Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has taken action to comply with local regulations.
According to local media reports, X started suspending accounts accused of spreading misinformation on Sept. 18, as ordered by Justice Alexandre de Moraes. In addition to suspending the accounts, lawyers for X announced that a new legal representative will be appointed in the country soon.
According to Brazilian law, social media platforms operating in the country must have a legal representative.
Accounts linked to digital influencer Allan dos Santos and journalist Paulo Figueiredo, both residents of the United States, have been suspended. Nine additional accounts have been shut down as part of the decision.
Suspended accounts are believed to be associated with supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and were previously banned from other social media platforms. The decisions were made by Justice Moraes as part of two ongoing investigations into misinformation spreading.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Source: Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
Musk has publicly denounced Moraes’ actions as politically motivated censorship, accusing the judge of acting as a “dictator” by targeting political opponents through what Musk claims are illegal demands for content moderation. Despite these accusations, a Brazilian supreme court justices panel upheld Moraes’ decision, keeping X suspended and imposing fines.
The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has supported the court’s efforts, claiming it is essential to combat misinformation, especially after political unrest allegedly sparked by fake news.
Related: UK Parliament could summon Elon Musk over X operations
Service Restoration
On Sept. 17, a technical incident temporarily restored access to X in Brazil. The restoration was caused by a shift to Cloudflare’s servers, unintentionally allowing users to access the platform. A spokesperson for X’s Global Government Affairs confirmed that the access was temporary:
“X Brazil reiterates that the situation did not arise from any attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court’s suspension order but rather from a technical failure caused by the need to change the network infrastructure used to provide access to the X platform to other South American countries.”
According to Moraes’ ban on X, users in the country who access the platform through virtual private networks (VPNs) may be fined $9,000 daily.
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