A five-member panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court has formed a majority to uphold Justice Alexandre de Moraes’ ruling to shut down social media platform, X, formerly Twitter, for non-compliance with local norms.
The two judges, Justices Flavio Dino and Cristiano Zanin, endorsed Moraes’ stance, forming a majority even before the two other judges cast their votes on the issue.
This kicked off barely two days after the government shut down the platform temporarily after Moraes’ announced his stance.
Amid ongoing voting, the Supreme Court ordered that those who continued to access X via VPNs would be fined up to 50,000 reais ($8,865.56) per day.
The platform missed a court-imposed deadline last month to name a legal representative in Brazil, as required by local law, triggering the suspension.
Justice Dino stated, “A company cannot operate in a country and impose its own vision on which rules should apply.”
“Non-compliance with Supreme Court decisions is extremely serious. No one can operate in Brazil without observing the laws and constitution,” Justice Zanin added
Chief Justice Luis Barroso also supported Moraes’ decision, saying, “A company that refuses to name a legal representative in Brazil cannot operate in Brazilian territory.”
The feud between X’s owner, Elon Musk, and Justice Moraes began months ago, with Musk challenging legal orders to block accounts implicated in probes of alleged hate speech and distorted news in Brazil.
Musk has argued that Moraes is enforcing unjustified censorship.
