The Supreme Court in Brazil on Friday, August 30, ordered the “immediate, complete and total suspension” of operations by X, formerly known as Twitter, in the country.
The ban followed the social media platform’s failure to meet a 24-hour deadline, which expired at 8:07 p.m. local time on Thursday (0:07 a.m. BST on Friday), to appoint a legal representative in Brazil.
About an hour after the deadline, X owner Elon Musk announced that the social media app would not comply with the directive, criticizing the country for censorship.
In issuing the ban, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has been in a long-running dispute with Musk, said the suspension would remain in effect “until all court orders are complied with, fines are duly paid, and a new legal representative for the company is appointed in the country.”
The judge ordered the country’s National Telecommunications Agency to enforce the decision within 24 hours and to deliver the order to over 20,000 broadband internet providers in Brazil, requiring them to block X.
Moraes also ordered Apple and Google to “implement technological barriers to prevent the use of the X app by users of the iOS and Android systems” and to block the use of VPNs.
He imposed a daily fine of R$50,000 (£6,800) on individuals and companies that attempt to use X via VPN.
