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Morais ordered Anateil to implement the suspension order and to confirm to the court within 24 hours that it had done so.
Brazil is one of Google X’s largest markets, and the company has been struggling with the loss of advertisers since Musk bought Twitter in 2022. About 40 million Brazilians, about a fifth of the country’s population, use Google X at least once a month, according to market researcher Emarketer.
“This is a sad day for X users around the world, but especially for those in Brazil, who are being denied access to our platform. I wish it didn’t have to come to this – it breaks my heart,” said X CEO Linda Yaccarino, adding that Brazil had failed to live up to its constitutional promise to ban censorship.
X posted a message on its official Global Government Affairs page late Thursday saying it expected X to be shut down by De Moraes “simply because we will not comply with his illegal orders to censor our political opponents.”
“When we tried to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Morais threatened to jail our Brazilian legal representative. Even after she resigned, he froze all her bank accounts,” the company wrote.
Because X was unwilling to comply with orders to block users, it came into conflict with Moras.
Earlier this year, Morais ordered X to block the accounts of some so-called digital militia groups suspected of spreading distorted news and hate speech.
Musk denounced the order as censorship and shut down the platform’s offices in Brazil. Twitter X, formerly known as Twitter, said at the time that its service would still be available in Brazil.
Amid a potential dispute over X, Brazil’s Supreme Court also froze the local bank accounts of the Starlink satellite internet company, which is 40% owned by Musk, leading the company to ask the court on Friday to suspend the decision.
Associated Press, Reuters
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