A Brazilian Supreme Court judge threatened to suspend X, formerly known as Twitter, if CEO Elon Musk fails to appoint a new legal representative for the platform’s operations in the country within 24 hours. The threat comes after Musk shut down X’s business operations in Brazil, while maintaining user access to the platform, following accusations that the judge was threatening the company’s previous legal representative.
In an order made public on Wednesday, Judge Alexandre de Moraes demanded that Musk “appoint the company’s new legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours.” The order warned that failure to comply would result in the suspension of the social network’s activities in Brazil.
Moraes, who has been leading the fight against disinformation in Brazil, has frequently clashed with Musk. Musk and other critics argue that Moraes is engaged in a broad crackdown on free speech. Musk justified the shutdown of X’s offices by saying that compliance with de Moraes’s orders would leave the company with no way to justify its actions “without being ashamed.”
Previously, Moraes had ordered the suspension of several Twitter accounts suspected of spreading disinformation, including those of supporters of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who attempted to undermine confidence in the voting system after losing the 2022 presidential election. Despite these efforts, X admitted in April that some users of blocked accounts had managed to circumvent the restrictions.
Musk is also under judicial investigation for allegedly participating in a scheme that used public funds to orchestrate disinformation campaigns in favor of Bolsonaro and his allies.
