What's happened
On August 30, 2024, Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the immediate suspension of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, due to non-compliance with court orders. This decision follows an ongoing dispute between Justice Alexandre de Moraes and Elon Musk, impacting X's operations in Brazil.
Why it matters
What the papers say
According to Al Jazeera, Justice de Moraes ordered the suspension after X failed to identify a legal representative in Brazil, stating that the company must comply with court orders, including a fine of 18.5 million reais. The South China Morning Post noted that the court's decision aims to prevent the use of VPNs to bypass the suspension, with fines for violators reaching up to 50,000 reais daily. SBS reported Musk's response, claiming the shutdown threatens the primary source of truth in Brazil, illustrating the clash between tech giants and local governance.
How we got here
The suspension stems from a feud between Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and Elon Musk, which has included previous orders to block accounts spreading misinformation and the freezing of Starlink's financial accounts in Brazil.
More on these topics
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers and with over 211 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the sixth most
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Alexandre de Moraes is a Brazilian jurist, currently a justice of the Supreme Federal Court.
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Elon Reeve Musk FRS is an engineer, industrial designer, technology entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder, CEO, CTO and chief designer of SpaceX; early investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; co-foun