Late on Friday afternoon, Justice Alexandre de Moraes – who has been engaged in a dispute with X’s owner, Elon Musk, since April – ordered the “immediate, complete and total suspension of X’s operations” in the country, “until all court orders … are complied with, fines are duly paid, and a new legal representative for the company is appointed in the country”.
He gave Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency 24 hours to enforce the decision. Once notified, the agency must pass the order on to the more than 20,000 broadband internet providers in the country, each of which must block X.
In an interview with the TV channel Globonews, the agency’s president, Carlos Manuel Baigorri, said the order had already been passed on to internet providers.
“Since we’re talking about more than 20,000 companies, each will have its own implementation time, but … we expect that probably over the weekend all companies will be able to implement the block,” he said.
Justice Moraes also summoned Apple and Google to “implement technological barriers to prevent the use of the X app by users of the iOS and Android systems” and to block the use of virtual private network (VPN) applications.
The decision imposes a daily fine of R$50,000 (£6,800) on individuals and companies that attempt to continue using X via VPN.
Lets hope the EU will follow soon. Brazil leads the way!
The brazil Judiciary want some profiles blocked. Is that what the EU should demand too?
Blocking profiles seems heavy handed, and best aimed at the individual, not the provider.
Well, there are quite some profiles doing nothing but spreading hate and misinformation in ways that exceed the limits of free speech, and blocking them would be a good way to stay within the law. Many European countries have quite strong opinions on people spreading Nazi propaganda, for example. Or call for committing crimes or bodily harm. The EU demands removal of such post and even accounts, but X is getting slower and more reluctant in following the laws. I think, banning X in the EU is overdue.
I think this part is key. X is hiding behind US laws which Brazil and the EU have very little say in.