Brazil Threatens to Block X in Escalating Clash With Musk

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(Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s top judge issued an order on Wednesday to block Elon Musk’s X if the social media platform doesn’t appoint a legal representative in the country within 24 hours, escalating a clash between the billionaire and Latin America’s largest economy.

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The decision came days after the platform formerly known as Twitter said it would close its operations in Brazil, while keeping the service available to its estimated 20 million active users in the country.

The supreme court published the ruling on its official X account Wednesday, in a reply to a post detailing X’s plan to pull out of Brazil. It’s the latest twist in a clash between the world’s richest man and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is spearheading efforts to combat fake news and hate speech in Brazil.

Brazil’s supreme court has issued a plethora of rulings suspending social media accounts since thousands of supporters of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro broke into major government buildings in early 2023. It ordered the suspension of prominent users, forced the removal of posts, and even cautioned to temporarily shut down entire platforms such as Telegram and X.

Musk has challenged the orders, which led Moraes to open an investigation against the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer. On Aug. 17, X said Moraes threatened to arrest its legal representative in Brazil if they didn’t comply with “his censorship orders.” Musk said on X that the decision to close the company’s office in the country “difficult.”

Moraes’s decision is intended to ensure the platform respects Brazilian legislation, which requires representation in the country, the court said in Wednesday’s post.

Musk responded to the order with an apparently AI-generated picture of a man resembling Moraes behind bars. “One day, Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words,” Musk posted.