X, formerly known as Twitter, has stated that it expects to be blocked in Brazil after failing to meet a deadline to designate a new legal agent for the firm.
The social media network closed its office in the country earlier this month, claiming that its representative had been threatened with arrest if she did not comply with directives it described as “censorship”.
The months-long dispute began in April when Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of dozens of X accounts for allegedly spreading falsehoods.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, has threatened to reactivate the accounts and referred to Justice Moraes as a “tyrant” and a “dictator”.
Justice Moraes gave X 24 hours to appoint a new legal representative or face suspension, with the deadline falling shortly after 20:00 local time (23:00 GMT) on Thursday.
The judgement stated that the ban will be in effect until X names a legal representation in the country and pays fines for alleged violations of Brazilian law.
However, in a message from one of its official accounts shortly after the deadline passed, X made it apparent that it had not followed the directive.
“Soon, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be shut down in Brazil – simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents,” according to the article.
“The fundamental issue here is that Judge de Moraes insists that we violate Brazil’s own laws. “We simply will not do that.”
X stated that it would not comply “in secret with illegal orders,” and that it would publicise the judge’s requests in the coming days “for the sake of transparency.”
Justice Moraes ordered that X accounts accused of disseminating disinformation, including several supporters of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, be blocked while they are investigated. He stated that the company’s legal officials would be held accountable if any accounts were revived.
Meanwhile, Mr Musk’s satellite internet firm Starlink’s bank accounts in Brazil have been frozen in response to a Supreme Court ruling.
Starlink reacted on X, stating that the “order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied – unconstitutionally – against X.”
Mr Musk further stated on X that “SpaceX and X are two completely different companies with separate shareholders.”
Starlink is a division of Elon Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX.
In 2022, the administration of then-President Bolsonaro authorised Starlink to operate in Brazil.
Brazil, South America’s largest country, and its vast Amazon regions provide enormous promise for Starlink, a company that specialised in providing internet services to rural locations.
Justice Moraes rose to notoriety after making decisions to ban social media platforms in the country.
He is also looking into Mr Bolsonaro and his followers’ involvement in a purported coup attempt on January 8, 2018.
X is not the only social media business to face pressure from Brazilian authorities.
Last year, Telegram was temporarily banned for failing to comply with requests to block specific profiles.
Meta’s messaging service Whatsapp was also temporarily suspended in 2015 and 2016 for refusing to cooperate with police enquiries for user data.
(Source: BBC)
