Brazil's Supreme Court upholds decision to suspend X platform's operations in Brazil

Recently, the ruling by Brazil's Supreme Court to fully suspend the operations of the X platform in Brazil has attracted widespread attention. According to the Associated Press, on September 2 local time, a panel of five judges of Brazil's Supreme Court held an online vote and unanimously agreed to uphold the decision made earlier by Justice Alexandre de Moraes to suspend the operations of the X platform in Brazil.

On August 30, Justice de Moraes ordered a full suspension of the X platform's operations in Brazil because the platform refused to appoint a local legal representative as required by law. According to this decision, the X platform will continue to suspend its operations in Brazil until it complies with the court's order and pays fines of more than $3 million as of last week. In addition, de Moraes also stipulated that individuals or companies that use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access the X platform will be fined 50,000 reais (about $8,900) per day.

The origin of this incident can be traced back to earlier this year when de Moraes had ordered the X platform to ban accounts that spread false information. The X platform said it would not implement this decision. On August 17, the X platform said that due to de Moraes' "threat" to arrest its legal representative in Brazil, it decided to close its office in Brazil. On the evening of August 28, Brazil's Supreme Court issued a summons requiring the X platform to appoint a new legal representative within 24 hours, otherwise its services in Brazil would be suspended. The X platform said on the evening of August 29 that it would not comply with the order.

Brazilian President Lula said that the owner of the social media platform X, Musk, should respect the ruling of Brazil's Supreme Court. "Every citizen who invests in Brazil from anywhere in the world is bound by Brazilian law." Some legal experts have questioned the basis and implementation method of this decision. The Brazilian Bar Association said it will ask the Supreme Court to review the relevant regulations. At present, the X platform's operations in Brazil are still suspended, and the follow-up development remains to be further observed.