(Sao Paulo) Brazil’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld the decision of one of its judges to suspend the social network X for ignoring a series of judicial decisions related to the fight against disinformation.
The network, owned by American billionaire Elon Musk, began to be blocked in the country in the early hours of Saturday, hours after Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered its suspension within 24 hours.
The judge of the Supreme Federal Court and figure in the fight against disinformation in Brazil is waging a standoff with the American billionaire over the question of the limits of freedom of expression.
Five Supreme Court justices, including Mr. Moraes, confirmed the measure taken on Friday in a virtual session.
“Elon Musk has demonstrated his total lack of respect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the judiciary, by positioning himself as a true supranational entity, immune to the laws of each country,” said Judge Moraes.
The latter had given the platform 24 hours on Wednesday evening to appoint a legal representative in the country, under penalty of blocking. After the rejection of the ultimatum, he decided on the “immediate, complete and integral suspension” of the network in Brazil.
“Freedom of expression is the foundation of democracy and in Brazil an unelected pseudo-judge is destroying it for political reasons,” thundered the American billionaire.
“Freedom of expression does not protect against repeated violations of the legal system,” Judge Flavio Dino, a former justice minister under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said Monday.
The suspension comes just over a month before municipal elections that will measure the balance of power between the camp of left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the right, which readily makes Elon Musk its champion.
The former Twitter network has 22 million users in the country, according to estimates from specialist website DataReportal.