Brazil Supreme Court Judge Orders Shutdown of Social Network X in the Country

(Patria) - A Supreme Court judge on Friday ordered the suspension of Elon Musk's social network X in Brazil after the billionaire failed to comply with an order to appoint a new legal representative for the company.

Musk has been embroiled in a months-long feud with Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who is leading a fight against disinformation in the largest South American country, AFP reported.

Moraes ordered the "immediate, complete and comprehensive suspension of the operations of 'X Brasil Internet LTDA' on the national territory." He ordered the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to "adopt all necessary measures to implement" the order within 24 hours and asked Google, Apple and internet providers to "introduce technological barriers that can prevent the use of the X application" and access to the website. The platform formerly known as Twitter has more than 22 million users in Brazil.

Musk earlier this month shut down X's business operations in Brazil, claiming that Moraes had threatened the company's previous legal representative with arrest to force compliance with "censorship orders."

Moraes on Wednesday told Musk to "appoint a new legal representative for the company in Brazil within 24 hours" or face suspension.

The South African-born Tesla boss fired off tweets calling Moraes an "evil dictator playing as a judge" and accusing him of "trying to destroy democracy in Brazil."

"We expect that Judge Alexandre de Moraes will soon order X to be shut down in Brazil - simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents," X said in a statement shortly after the 24-hour deadline expired.