After nearly a month of facing a block in Brazil, Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has taken steps to comply with local regulations.
According to reports from Brazilian media, X initiated the suspension of accounts accused of spreading misinformation on September 18, as per the order of Justice Alexandre de Moraes. In addition to the account suspensions, X’s lawyers announced the appointment of a new legal representative in the country in the near future.
In accordance with Brazilian law, social media platforms operating in the country are required to have a legal representative.
Accounts associated with digital influencer Allan dos Santos and journalist Paulo Figueiredo, both residing in the United States, have been suspended. Furthermore, nine additional accounts have been shut down as a result of this decision.
These suspended accounts are believed to be linked to supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who have previously faced bans on other social media platforms. Justice Moraes made these decisions as part of two ongoing investigations into the spread of misinformation.
Elon Musk has publicly criticized Moraes’ actions, alleging that they are politically motivated censorship and accusing the judge of acting like a “dictator” by targeting political opponents through what Musk claims are unlawful requests for content moderation. Despite these accusations, a panel of Brazilian supreme court justices upheld Moraes’ decision, resulting in the continued suspension of X and the imposition of fines.
The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has expressed support for the court’s efforts, arguing that it is crucial to combat misinformation, particularly in light of political unrest allegedly sparked by fake news.
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Service Restoration
On September 17, a technical incident briefly allowed access to X in Brazil. This restoration occurred unintentionally due to a switch to Cloudflare’s servers, enabling users to access the platform. A spokesperson for X’s Global Government Affairs confirmed that this access was temporary.
According to Moraes’ ban on X, users in the country who access the platform through virtual private networks (VPNs) may be subject to daily fines of $9,000.
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