On Friday, Brazil’s telecommunications regulator said that it will block X social network, owned by Elon Musk. This decision comes a few weeks after a judge who has been in a long-term rivalry with the billionaire investor ordered it.
The suspension came after X failed to meet a court deadline on Thursday evening of appointing legal counsel in Brazil. Earlier, Musk accused Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes of attempting to bring unreasonable censoring measures to Twitter. In response, the judge has especially pointed out the need for social media to tackle hate speech.
Musk was not happy with the decision saying thus of Twitter, “They’re shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil” on X. The decision could be detrimental to X business, particularly in one of its largest markets given that Musk has had recent problems with advertisement revenue.
By late Friday, X was still available in Brazil, however, some of the users have already complained of access to this site being denied to them. Charging that some networks are involved in criminal activities, three major telecommunication carriers in Brazil have planned to block them from getting access from midnight or 0300 GMT on Saturday as the local news report reveals.
This is not the first time that Judge Moraes has acted to stop what he considers threats to democracy and improper use of disinformation on social networks. He has ordered Brazil’s Communication Ministry to order Anatel, the country’s telecommunications regulatory agency, to suspend the frequency and inform the court of the development in 24 hours.