Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes has ordered social media giant X to be taken down in the country after billionaire Elon Musk did not name a legal representative for his messaging platform in Brazil, a court decision has shown.
Moraes and Musk have been in a public feud for months, after X failed to comply with legal orders to block certain accounts accused of spreading fake news and hate messages.
In the decision, Mr Moraes ordered the full and immediate suspension of X in the country until all related court orders on X were complied with, including the payment of fines amounting 18.5 million reais (€2,967,908) and the nomination of a legal representative in Brazil.
Mr Moraes ordered telecommunications regulator Anatel to implement the suspension order, and to confirm to the court within 24 hours that it has carried it out.
In a bid to avoid the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent the blockage, Mr Moraes said that individuals or companies who tried to keep access to the social network that way could be fined up to 50,000 reais a day.
Earlier, the Supreme Court blocked the bank accounts of Elon Musk's Starlink internet firm, while an underlying dispute leaves his social media platform X on the brink of being blocked in the country as a deadline looms.
Starlink is the satellite internet service of rocket technology company SpaceX, which is part of Mr Musk's business empire that also includes electric car company Tesla.
He is the owner of X and CEO of Tesla.
The internet company confirmed it received an order from the judge that prevents it from conducting financial transactions in Brazil, adding in a post on X that it would respond to the order.
Signed by Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, the court's decision to sanction Starlink is a response to the lack of legal representatives in Brazil for X, a Supreme Court source told Reuters.
The decision to freeze Starlink's accounts also stems from a separate dispute over unpaid fines that X was ordered to pay due to its failure to turn over some documents.
The Supreme Court said that the time allowed for Mr Musk's social media platform to name its legal representative for Brazil would expire at 8.07pm. (12.07am Irish time).
The announcement added that staff will verify whether X has issued any legal response.
Brazilian law requires all internet companies to have a legal representative in the country who can receive judicial orders and otherwise be legally responsible for the business.
Judge Moraes signed an order yesterday for X to name its legal representative or face suspension in the country.
In a post on X, Mr Musk said Judge Moraes "is an outright criminal of the worst kind, masquerading as a judge".
Starlink, in a separate post, accused the judge of secretly issuing the order without due process.
The cumulative digital and legal disputes could cause X to lose one of its largest, most coveted markets, at a time when Mr Musk has struggled with advertising revenue for the platform.
Earlier this month, X announced it would close operations and fire its staff in Latin America's largest economy due to what it called "censorship orders" from Judge Moraes, while keeping its service available for Brazilian users.
At the time, X claimed Judge Moraes secretly threatened one of the company's legal representatives in Brazil with arrest if it did not comply with legal orders to take down some content.
In the ruling, Judge Moraes stressed that companies that do not respect local laws or the confidentiality of private information could have their activities temporarily suspended.
The Supreme Court posted an image of the court decision on its X account, tagging Mr Musk's and X's global government affairs accounts.
Judge Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts earlier this year implicated in investigations of so-called digital militias accused of spreading distortions and hate during Mr Bolsonaro's term in office.
After Mr Musk challenged that decision and said he would reactivate accounts on X that the judge had ordered blocked, Judge Moraes opened an April inquiry into the billionaire.
X representatives eventually reversed course and told the Supreme Court that the social media platform would obey the rulings.
In April, however, Judge Moraes asked X to explain why it had not fully complied with his decisions.
In response, X lawyers cited "operational faults" that had allowed users ordered blocked to stay active on the platform.
Many Brazilians took to X to make light of the saga, including thousands who posted creative "memes" spotlighting the judge and the billionaire.
Some X users criticised the ruling signed by the judge, arguing he was undermining freedom of speech, while others sided with Judge Moraes, insisting that Mr Musk must comply with Brazilian law.
X, formerly known as Twitter, is widely used in Brazil and is an important means of communication in particular for politicians, who use the platform for announcements.
