Musk's Feud With Brazil Enters Threat Territory

Nation's high court gives him 24 hours to appoint a legal rep to avoid seeing X suspended there
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 29, 2024 12:49 PM CDT
Brazil Issues Warning to Musk Over X Platform
Elon Musk is seen on April 13 at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

The clock is ticking for Elon Musk, at least as it pertains to keeping his X social media platform functioning in Brazil. That's because the South American nation's Supreme Court has given the billionaire 24 hours to appoint a legal representative for X in Brazil, or risk seeing his site suspended there, reports the New York Times. The court posted its order online on Wednesday evening, with the Times estimating that the 24-hour deadline will expire around 8pm local time on Thursday.

Just last week, the nation's high court demanded Musk suspend 100-plus X accounts in an effort to fight misinformation, assaults against democracy, and hate speech, mostly targeting accounts belonging to right-wing supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, including those who cast doubt on Bolsonaro's 2022 election loss. Musk, who has expressed support for Bolsonaro, responded by shuttering X's Brazil office "effective immediately," per the AP.

Especially earning Musk's ire over the past few months has been Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who says that Brazil's laws require tech firms to have legal reps to operate online services there. Neither Musk nor X have issued an official statement in response to Wednesday's notice of a possible suspension, but after it was posted, Musk went after Moraes some more online, including with a post showing a man behind bars, along with the caption: "One day, @Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words." (More X.com stories.)

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