X (formerly Twitter) faces complete ban in Brazil amid legal battle

For some weeks now, X (formerly known as Twitter) has been in a legal battle with Brazil over its operations in the country. This battle has been on since April this year when the social media platform refused to censor and block certain accounts after being ordered by the court to do so.

The battle has been ongoing for months, with several orders from Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes directing the billionaire-owned platform to comply. Despite these orders, the platform has repeatedly failed to fulfil them. Most recently, the court mandated that X appoint a local legal representative, but the company missed the deadline, leading Justice Moraes to impose a complete ban on the social media platform.

According to Bloomberg, all five judges, in a virtual hearing, unanimously approved the ban. Additionally, they imposed a fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) on individuals who violated the ban by accessing the platform through a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

This decision took place over the weekend, affecting over 20 million of the platform's users in Brazil. Given Brazil's ranking as the sixth most active X user base, according to Statista, the platform's operations could be significantly affected.

The decision also affected the other Elon Musk-owned company Starlink. Reports state that the company's bank assets were frozen in a bid to get the company to pay for X fines. They had filed an appeal stating the two companies were separate entities, but ultimately, their appeal was rejected.