It’s official. Brazil’s Supreme Court has banned X (formerly Twitter), and any Brazilian users and companies who attempt to access Elon Musk‘s social media platform by using a VPN will be fined nearly $9000 a day. This is according to a report by The Guardian, which explains that the suspension is due to X failing to meet a pivotal deadline. Here’s what we know so far about why X has been banned in Brazil and the fine being imposed on Brazilians for trying to get on the platform.
Why is the Brazil Supreme Court banning Twitter?
The Brazil Supreme Court is banning X, then Twitter, for not appointing a legal representative in the country within a 24-hour period by order of Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
On Wednesday, August 28, Moraes gave the company 24 hours to appoint a legal representative in Brazil, as required by foreign companies in the country. Since August 27, X has been without a legal representative in Brazil after it decided to close its operations there, claiming in a statement on the platform that “Moraes has chosen to threaten [its] staff in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process.”
The judge has been engaged in a legal dispute with X since April after he ordered the platform to block accounts of “digital militias” that attempted to have former president Jair Bolsonaro remain in power after his electoral defeat in 2022.
After the deadline passed, Moraes ordered on Friday afternoon the “immediate, complete, and total suspension of X’s operations” in Brazil “until all court orders… are complied with, fines are duly paid, and a new legal representative for the company is appointed in the country.”
Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency is responsible for enforcing the order and will be passing it onto over 20,000 broadband IPs across the country to block X. The judge also had Apple and Google prevent users to access X on iOS and Android platforms and to block VPNs as well. Various App stores have been told to remove the X app within five days.
Individuals and companies in Brazil that try to access X via VPN will be fined $50,000 Brazilian Real, which is about $8900 USD, every day. However, it is unclear how this fine will be enforced and how the use of a VPN to access X will be detected, particularly given that some VPNs have features that mask the application.
On August 29, X denounced Moraes, saying that he ordered the ban of the platform because it “would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.” The company plans on publishing over the next several days what it calls “Moraes’ illegal demands and all related court filings.”
