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Elon Musk’s X Faces Daily Fines in Brazil Amid Controversy
Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, is facing substantial daily fines in Brazil as a result of an order from the country’s Supreme Court. According to a recent statement, the platform is being fined approximately $920,000 each day for allegedly failing to comply with a suspension mandated by the court.
The fines, which are set at 5 million Brazilian reals, have been linked to the ongoing issues surrounding X’s operations in Brazil. The Supreme Court had initially ordered the suspension of the platform at the end of August, a decision that was later affirmed by a panel of justices. The court’s ruling highlighted violations of Brazilian law by X, which stipulates that social media companies must appoint a legal representative in Brazil and take action against hate speech and content that threatens democratic values. Furthermore, the court criticized X for not taking measures to suspend accounts involved in doxxing federal officials.
In a recent move, X transitioned to utilizing servers operated by Cloudflare and appears to have adopted dynamic internet protocol addresses. This change has inadvertently allowed many users in Brazil to bypass the initial restrictions, contrasting with their previous reliance on static IP addresses, which were more easily restricted by internet service providers acting on regulatory orders.
Musk has publicly criticized Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who issued the suspension, referring to him in disparaging terms reminiscent of iconic villains from popular culture. While Musk advocates for unrestricted free speech, X has complied with content removal requests in various countries, including India, Turkey, and Hungary. Despite Musk’s claims of upholding free expression, it appears that the platform may also be aligning itself with Brazilian legal requirements.
Recent reports suggest X may be taking steps to adhere to Brazil’s content removal directives. A Brazilian publication, Correio Braziliense, indicated that X has begun blocking certain accounts as mandated by the Supreme Court, particularly those linked to misinformation campaigns and threats to democratic institutions.
A spokesperson for X stated that the platform does not plan to reinstate access for Brazilian users, explaining that their operational infrastructure was compromised by the suspension. They further mentioned that while a temporary service restoration had occurred due to the network change, they anticipated that access would soon be restricted again and expressed a desire to negotiate with the Brazilian government for a future return to the platform.
In a decisive move, Justice de Moraes has required Brazil’s national telecommunications agency, Anatel, to block access to Cloudflare, as well as additional servers utilized by X to circumvent the imposed suspension.
A Cloudflare representative clarified that the company does not engage in actions to enable or prevent blocking, emphasizing that a variety of their clients choose to use dedicated IPs, a common practice within the industry.
Prior to the suspension, X boasted an estimated 22 million users in Brazil, as reported by Data Reportal.
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