X, formerly known as Twitter, has announced that it anticipates being blocked in Brazil after failing to meet a deadline to appoint a new legal representative in the country.
Earlier this month, the social media platform closed its office in Brazil, citing concerns over the safety of its legal representative, who had been threatened with arrest for not complying with what the company described as “censorship” orders.
The conflict began in April when Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of dozens of X accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation. In response, X’s owner, Elon Musk, threatened to reactivate the suspended accounts and labeled Justice Moraes as a “tyrant” and a “dictator.”
Justice Moraes issued an ultimatum, giving X 24 hours to appoint a new legal representative or face suspension, with the deadline passing just after 20:00 local time (23:00 GMT) on Thursday.
The order stipulated that the ban would remain in place until X appoints a legal representative in Brazil and pays fines for alleged violations of Brazilian law.
But in a post from one of its official accounts shortly after the deadline expired, X made clear that it had not complied with the order.
“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,” the post said.
“The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that.”
X said it would not comply “in secret with illegal orders”, adding that it would publish the judge’s demands in the coming days “in the interests of transparency”.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered that X accounts accused of spreading disinformation, many of which belong to supporters of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, must remain blocked while under investigation.
He warned that the company’s legal representatives would be held accountable if any of these accounts were reactivated.
In a related development, the bank accounts of Elon Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink, have been frozen in Brazil following an order from the country’s Supreme Court.
Starlink responded with a post on X, stating that the “order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied—unconstitutionally—against X.”
Musk also emphasized on X that “SpaceX and X are two completely different companies with different shareholders.” Starlink operates as a subsidiary of Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX.
Starlink was granted permission to operate in Brazil in 2022 under the government of then-President Bolsonaro.
Brazil, with its vast and remote regions, particularly in the Amazon, presents significant potential for Starlink’s services, which specialize in providing internet access to isolated areas.
Justice Moraes has gained prominence for his actions to restrict social media platforms in Brazil. He is also investigating Bolsonaro and his supporters for their alleged involvement in an attempted coup on January 8 of the previous year.
X is not the first social media company to face pressure from Brazilian authorities. Last year, Telegram was temporarily banned for failing to cooperate with requests to block certain profiles.
Meta’s messaging service, WhatsApp, also faced temporary bans in 2015 and 2016 for refusing to comply with police requests for user data.