- Judicial authority in Brazil orders the halt of operations for X.
In a squabble concerning the assignment of a legal representative for news platform X, a federal judge in Brazil has ordained the halting of the digital service. The National Telecommunications Agency is facilitated to terminate X in the Southern American nation within a 24-hour timeframe, as ordered by Judge Alexandre de Moraes from the Supreme Federal Court. Furthermore, tech giants like Google and Apple are mandated to expel the X app from their digital marketplaces within the subsequent five days.
Judge de Moraes instituted this action following X's refusal to comply with his directive to designate a legal representative in Brazil. X had temporarily shut down its operations mid-month, alleging apprehensions surrounding the arrest of its former representative. Prior to this, the Supreme Court had commanded X to disable the accounts of right-wing activists who were propagating conspiracy theories and distorted information. X failed to abide by this decree and also neglected to settle the imposed penalty.
X's proprietor, Elon Musk, has vehemently censured Federal Judge de Moraes in recent days, imputing him with censorship. "Alexandre de Moraes is a disguised dictator masquerading as a judge," he scribbled on X. Musk considers himself a champion for free speech. However, his platform has recently been harnessed in Brazil to rally support for anti-democratic actions. So-called digital militias from the orbit of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro are disseminating false news and hate speech on social media.
The decision by Judge de Moraes to halt X's digital service has led to calls for its removal from major social networks, such as Google and Facebook. Despite the controversy, Elon Musk's position as X's proprietor has not prevented the use of the platform by digital militias spreading misinformation on social networks in Brazil.
