Politics Supreme Court confirms blocking of X in Brazil
The Supreme Federal Court in Brazil has confirmed the blocking of the online platform X. The majority of the first chamber of the court agreed with the decision by federal judge Alexandre de Moraes, as reported by the news portal G1.
02.09.2024, 17:14
SDA
The judge had ordered the shutdown of X in the South American country on Friday. He accuses the Twitter successor service of not taking decisive enough action against the spread of hate speech and fake news. X owner Elon Musk refers to freedom of speech and described the judge as an "evil dictator".
The conflict had recently escalated. Judge Moraes demanded that X block the accounts of right-wing activists who spread conspiracy theories and false information. Musk described the demand as unlawful, the online platform did not comply with the request - and did not pay the fine imposed. In addition, Musk missed a deadline to appoint a legal representative in Brazil, whereupon Moraes ordered the news platform to be blocked.
The block will remain in place until X has paid the fine of more than 18 million reais (around 2.88 million euros) and appointed a legal representative. Moraes had already opened an investigation against Musk himself in April for obstruction of justice and incitement to commit crimes.
