Brazil's Supreme Court upholds suspension of social network X

(Patria) - Brazil's Supreme Court on Monday ratified a decision by one of its judges to suspend Elon Musk's social network X for alleged judicial violations, AFP reported.

Access to the network in the country has been blocked since Saturday morning, a few hours after judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension. Moraes' ruling followed Musk's failure to comply with an order to appoint a new legal representative for the company in Brazil – a demand that X dismissed as "illegal".

Moraes and Musk have been at loggerheads for months, with the judge vowing to combat disinformation and Musk asserting that freedom of speech prevails.

On Monday, five Supreme Court justices, including Moraes himself, voted in a virtual session to uphold his ruling.

"Elon Musk has shown his complete disregard for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the judiciary, positioning himself as a true supranational entity, immune to the laws of the countries," Moraes said in the new ruling.

His colleague Flavio Dino added that "freedom of expression does not justify repeated violations of the legal system".

Musk, who also owns Tesla and SpaceX, reacted furiously to Friday's order, labelling Moraes as a "dictator who is playing judge" and accusing him of "trying to destroy democracy in Brazil".

The conflict began when Moraes ordered the suspension of several X profiles belonging to supporters of former Brazilian far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro attempted to discredit the voting system used during the country's 2022 elections, which he lost. Brazilian authorities are investigating whether Bolsonaro planned a coup attempt to prevent his successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, from taking office in January 2023.

Among the internet users blocked by Moraes is former far-right congressman Daniel Silveira, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2022 on charges of leading a movement to overthrow the Supreme Court.

Moraes ordered an investigation into Musk in April, accusing him of reactivating some of the banned profiles. Musk is also the subject of a separate investigation into the alleged use of public money to orchestrate disinformation campaigns in favour of Bolsonaro and his close associates. The suspension of X came just over a month before Brazil's municipal elections are due to be held.

In August, X announced it was closing its offices in Brazil due to Moraes' actions, but assured clients that they would continue to have access to its services.

As of Friday, X had about 22 million users in Brazil, according to the DataReportal website.