On September 2, 2024, Brazil’s Supreme Court supported its decision to shut down Elon Musk’s social media site X, which used to be called Twitter. The court’s joint decision backs up Justice Alexandre de Moraes’ decision on August 30 to stop the platform’s work in Brazil. Musk’s company was suspended because they missed a deadline to name a formal agent in Brazil.
This refusal came even though X was being closely watched for supposedly spreading false information, especially about former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. As a reaction to the court’s ruling, Musk called Justice de Moraes a “dictator” and said he was censoring political speech on social media. But all five judges upheld the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying that X’s failure to follow the law was the main reason for the ban.
The court said that X would be banned until it paid over $3 million in fines. Businesses and people in Brazil who use virtual private networks (VPNs) to connect to X could also be fined up to 50,000 reais, which is about $8,900. The ongoing fight brings up bigger problems with content moderation and making sure that foreign tech companies follow the law. Musk bought X in 2022, and he has been criticized for how he has handled the platform’s content rules. His latest suspension has made things even worse with the Brazilian government.
The ban hits a big market for X: Brazil. Millions of people will be affected, and many will look for alternatives like Bluesky. As things stand, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil has said that he supports the court’s ruling and sees it as a necessary step to protect legal standards and democratic ideals. The Brazilian Supreme Court has kept the ban on Elon Musk’s X in place because of a court disagreement. The Brazilian Supreme Court has said again that Elon Musk’s social media platform X is illegal. This comes after a court battle over false information and not following local rules.
The company has been suspended since September 2, 2024, and will stay that way until it pays all of its debts and follows the court’s orders. Article: On September 2, 2024, Brazil’s Supreme Court supported its decision to shut down Elon Musk’s social media site X, which used to be called Twitter. The court’s joint decision backs up Justice Alexandre de Moraes’ decision on August 30 to stop the platform’s work in Brazil. Musk’s company was suspended because they missed a deadline to name a formal agent in Brazil.
This refusal came even though X was being closely watched for supposedly spreading false information, especially about former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. As a reaction to the court’s ruling, Musk called Justice de Moraes a “dictator” and said he was censoring political speech on social media. But all five judges upheld the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying that X’s failure to follow the law was the main reason for the ban. The court said that X would be banned until it paid over $3 million in fines. Businesses and people in Brazil who use virtual private networks (VPNs) to connect to X could also be fined up to 50,000 reais, which is about $8,900. The ongoing fight brings up bigger problems with content moderation and making sure that foreign tech companies follow the law.
Musk bought X in 2022, and he has been criticized for how he has handled the platform’s content rules. His latest suspension has made things even worse with the Brazilian government. The ban hits a big market for X: Brazil. Millions of people will be affected, and many will look for alternatives like Bluesky. As things stand, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil has said that he supports the court’s ruling and sees it as a necessary step to protect legal standards and democratic ideals.
