Brazil's Supreme Court orders X to suspend services in the country

The Brazilian Supreme Court has ordered the suspension of X's services after the company refused to appoint a new legal representative. X closed its Brazilian offices in August 2024, and the Supreme Court warned that it could be ordered to suspend services if it did not appoint a new legal representative. ISPs are required to block X, and individuals and companies who access X using a VPN will be fined.

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@STF_official determina suspensão do X, antigo Twitter, em todo o território nacional: https://t.co/KMm4jkqELo #ParaTodosVerem #Acessibilidade : contém descrição acessível. pic.twitter.com/YJswrzcCrg

— STF (@STF_official) August 30, 2024

Brazil judge orders suspension of Elon Musk's X | AP News
https://apnews.com/article/brazil-musk-x-suspended-de-moraes-46c9d5c5c895e17d9adfac43e6ac20fd

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The issue began in April 2024, when the Brazilian Supreme Court asked X to block certain accounts, but X refused.

X ended its operations in Brazil and closed its offices in August 2024 after Judge Moraes of the Brazilian Supreme Court threatened to arrest legal representatives if they did not comply with censorship. However, the service itself remained available.

Twitter (formerly Twitter) announces it will end operations in Brazil to counter censorship by Brazilian Supreme Court judge - GIGAZINE

However, the Brazilian Supreme Court required X to appoint a new legal representative in order to continue providing services. X did not select a legal representative within the 24-hour deadline, and the Supreme Court decided to suspend X's services in Brazil.

The Brazilian Supreme Court gave internet service providers five days to act and said it would block access to X until the company complies with the order, and that any individuals or companies using a VPN to access X would be fined 50,000 reais (approximately $13,000) per day.

Initial orders were also issued to Apple and Google asking them to block X from their app stores, but they faced backlash and the orders to the app stores were rescinded within hours.

Starlink's bank accounts have been frozen to help pay X's fine.