Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered the immediate suspension of the social media platform “X,” formerly known as Twitter, following a prolonged legal battle with its owner, billionaire Elon Musk.
This move comes after Musk defied court orders to appoint a legal representative for the platform in Brazil, the largest country in Latin America.
The ban marks the culmination of months of conflict between Musk and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has been leading efforts to combat the spread of fake news and hate speech, which he argues threaten Brazil’s democracy.
Earlier this month, Musk shut down X’s office in Brazil in protest of court orders requiring the removal of certain accounts accused of spreading misinformation.
In response, the court notified the company on Wednesday, giving it 24 hours to appoint a legal representative or face a ban.
As of Friday evening, the platform remained operational, as it takes time to enforce such orders.
This legal clash highlights the growing tension between global democracies and social media platforms over their influence on elections and politics.
Brazil, in particular, has taken a tough stance in holding these companies accountable for content on their platforms following the 2022 presidential election.
During the election campaign, former President Jair Bolsonaro used social media and traditional broadcasting to cast doubt on Brazil’s electronic voting system.
His unfounded claims of hacking and vote tampering fueled anger among his supporters, leading to riots in Brasília by those who falsely believed that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had lost the election.
In April, Moraes included Musk in a broad investigation into so-called “digital militias”—organized groups accused of using social media to spread false information and incite unrest.
The court imposed fines on X for disobeying orders to remove such content. While X initially complied with the orders, Musk later appeared to defy Moraes, stating that he would lift restrictions even if it hurt his company’s profits.
In August, X announced it would “immediately” cease operations in Brazil after Moraes threatened to arrest its legal representative for failing to comply with court orders.
Despite this, Musk continued to criticize Moraes on his platform, claiming that the judge’s efforts to monitor content amounted to overreach and censorship.
Musk’s response to the court’s demand for a legal representative in Brazil included posting an AI-generated image of a bald man in a black robe behind bars—an apparent depiction of Moraes—with a caption warning that the judge might someday find himself in that situation.
Musk has positioned himself as a champion of free speech, stripping the company of much of its content moderation infrastructure and staff since acquiring it in 2022.
The platform now relies heavily on user-driven moderation through its “Community Notes” feature, which labels misleading posts identified by users.
Musk’s clash with Brazilian authorities has garnered him support within conservative circles in Brazil, who have long accused the judiciary of targeting their cause.
However, if the court’s ban persists, X risks losing one of its largest markets outside the United States, potentially impacting thousands of candidates who rely on the platform for campaigning ahead of Brazil’s October local elections, which will take place in more than 5,000 municipalities.
A December survey found that 29% of smartphone users in Brazil had downloaded the X app, and as of the first quarter of 2024, the platform had around 20 million active users in the country—a 15% decline from the previous year, according to data from Sensor Tower.
Other social media platforms have also faced legal challenges in Brazil. Last year, a judge ordered a temporary ban on the messaging app Telegram after it failed to share user data related to neo-Nazi content that authorities linked to school attacks.
In 2016, WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms, was briefly banned for not complying with court orders to share user data.
