Social network X could be banned from Brazil in the next few hours

After several years of warnings to the network social, the Government of Brazil is preparing to block access to X in a few days.

Social network X (formerly Twitter) could be saying goodbye to one of its largest user bases in a matter of days. A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has just issued an ultimatum to social network X and its owner, billionaire Elon Musk.

In this injunction dated August 28, Judge Alexandre de Moraes orders the company to appoint a new legal representative for the company and social network X. This judge, who is rather renowned in Brazil, adds in particular that in the event of a breach by Elon Musk, this would lead to “an immediate suspension of the social network's activities.”

For his part, Elon Musk seems to be enjoying the situation. The CEO of X has been making jokes and insults towards Judge Alexandre de Moraes for several days. Through several posts and montages made with artificial intelligence, Elon Musk refers to his opponent as “the dictator of Brazil”.

Why does Brazil want to ban activities of X ?

Although this case has taken on greater proportions in recent days, we have to go back a few years to understand it. As early as 2020, several members of the Brazilian Supreme Court reported a resurgence of fake news and misleading tweets about the Covid-19 epidemic. A situation that ultimately led to an injunction from the country against X à remove disinformation posts about the epidemic.

In 2022, things accelerate after the elections and the defeat of candidate Bolsonaro. On the social network X, several influencers and big accounts of the Brazilian far right call for a coup d'état while the Supreme Court tries to control the situation, causing some of them to be very badly perceived on X. Judge Alexandre de Moraes will then constantly request the closure of multiple accounts belonging to personalities of the Brazilian conservative right.

This brings us back to this August 2024. Judge Alexandre de Moraes decides to establish an investigation against the legal representative of X in Brazil following the proliferation of false information on the social network and the reactivation of several banned accounts linked to Bolsonaro. In response, Elon Musk finally closed the offices of the company located in Brazil and accused the judge to plead censorship towards the social network and freedom of expression.