X is banned in Brazil

Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has been banned in Latin American country Brazil. The move comes after Brazil's Supreme Court failed to name a legal representative within a specified time frame. News BBC.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had earlier ordered the country to name a legal representative for X. But the microblogging platform owned by Elon Musk did not obey that order. As a result, X's activities were banned in Brazil.

Moraes accused several X accounts of spreading false information. Most of the accounts are supporters of Brazil's former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro. Moraes ordered the accounts to be closed pending an investigation.

Justice Moraes ordered an immediate and complete suspension of the platform until X complies with all court orders and pays all fines.

The dispute started last April. Justice Moraes ordered the closure of dozens of X accounts. He accused the accounts of spreading misinformation.

Reacting to X's ban, the platform's owner, Elon Musk, said freedom of expression is the foundation of democracy and an unelected impostor judge in Brazil is destroying this foundation for purely political purposes.

At least one-tenth of Brazil's 200 million people reportedly use the microblogging platform. As of Saturday morning, some users have reported that they are no longer able to access X.

At the beginning of this month, X closed its office in Brazil. In accordance with Brazilian law, X's representative in Brazil was threatened with arrest and torture if they did not comply with their instructions.

Moraes then said that company representatives would be held responsible if the X accounts that had been closed in Brazil were reopened. X refused to comply with this order and was threatened with a fine.

Starlink's bank accounts in Brazil have also been seized since this week due to long-standing disputes and bitterness. Starlink, which provides satellite internet services, is a unit of Musk's rocket company SpaceX.

Bangladesh /SBT