Janice R. Andrews
Brazil, Sao Paulo — Brazil is about to shut down X, which used to be known as Twitter, because the social media site missed a very important legal date set by the Brazilian Supreme Court. This new development shows how the court and Elon Musk, the owner of X, are still fighting over content control and legal protection.
Thursday, Brazilian officials were going to cut off X’s services because the company missed the deadline to name a new legal agent in Brazil at 8:07 p.m. local time (23:07 GMT). Under Brazilian law, all internet companies must have a local point of contact for legal issues and notifications. This legal agent is one of those people.
At the start of the month, the trouble started when X fired its lawyer in Brazil. This was done after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the person would be arrested if they didn’t stop. Moraes had told X that it had to choose a new agent by Thursday evening or its business would stop until it did so.
The Fight: Content Moderation vs. Free Speech
The fight between X and the Brazilian Supreme Court is about free speech and content control. Justice Moraes has told X to block some accounts that are thought to be sharing lies and false information. A lot of these accounts are tied to people who supported former President Jair Bolsonaro. Some of these people say he didn’t lose the 2022 race.
Elon Musk has spoken out against Moraes, calling him a “tyrant” and a “dictator” on X. Musk says that the court’s orders are the same thing as discrimination and are against the values of free speech. He has promised to bring back accounts that were previously banned, which goes against Moraes’s power and accuses him of limiting free speech.
Because Musk refused to follow the rules, Moraes started an investigation into what the billionaire had done to spread fake news and allegedly obstruct justice. Not only has the fight affected X, but it has also affected Musk’s satellite internet business, Starlink.
Starlink is facing a financial freeze.
The day before the deadline, Starlink said it got a message from Moraes telling it to stop doing any business in Brazil that involves money. According to the order, Starlink should pay the fines that were given to X. Starlink disagrees with this decision and says it is unfair. The business has promised to deal with the problem legally.
In a statement released after the limit, X admitted that it was likely that service would be cut off in Brazil. The company said again that it would protect free speech and said that the court demands were unfair. “Unlike some other tech and social media sites, we won’t secretly follow illegal orders,” X said.
Effects on Brazil’s Online World
People and lawmakers alike use X, which is a big communication tool in Brazil. The possible halt of the service would have big effects on how people in the country share and talk about information. As things stand, both X and the Brazilian government are in a very tough spot. The future of the platform in Brazil is still up in the air.
Stay tuned for more news about how this story is developing.
