Brazil watchdog moves to block access to Elon Musk's X after court order
Brazil's telecommunications regulator said on Friday it was proceeding to suspend access to Elon Musk's X social network in the country in compliance with an order from a judge who has been locked in a months-long feud with the billionaire investor.
The move followed the expiry of a court-imposed deadline for the popular social media platform to name a legal representative in Brazil.
Musk has argued that Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes is trying to enforce unjustified censorship, while the judge has insisted that social media needs hate speech regulations.
«They're shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil,» Musk said in a post on X on Friday.
X remained accessible in Brazil on Friday evening.
The feud has also led to the freezing earlier this week of satellite internet provider Starlink's bank accounts in Brazil. Starlink is a unit of Musk-led rocket company SpaceX.
In his ruling, Moraes ordered that X, formerly Twitter, be suspended in Brazil until all related court orders were complied with, including the payment of more than $3 million in fines, as well as the designation of a local representative, as required by Brazilian law.
Moraes also ordered telecommunications regulator Anatel to implement the suspension order.
The agency told Reuters it is proceeding with compliance, but without specifying a timetable.
To effectively close X in Brazil, telecommunication companies will need to stop carrying the network's traffic, while also preventing users of the site from dodging it by concealing
