Minister ordered the suspension of the social network on Friday (August 30); the trial will be on Monday (September 2), in a virtual plenary session
The Minister of STF Alexandre de Moraes sent his decision suspending X (formerly Twitter) in Brazil for judgment in the 1st Chamber of the Supreme Court, which he presides over. The extraordinary session will be held in a virtual plenary session on Monday (September 2, 2024), and is scheduled to end at 11:59 p.m. on the same day. Read the full of the call (PDF – 104 kB).
In addition to Moraes, the 1st Chamber includes four other ministers: Cármen Lúcia, Luiz Fux, Cristiano Zanin and Flávio Dino. In the virtual format, there is no debate among the ministers, who only cast their votes on the STF’s virtual platform.
The overthrow of X was determined by Moraes on Friday (30th August).
In the early hours of Saturday (31 August), the network had already gone offline for several Brazilian users.
The judge’s decision came after businessman Elon Musk, owner of X, failed to comply with an order from Moraes, refusing to identify a legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours. The subpoena was issued by the minister on Wednesday (August 28). Musk had until 8 pm (Brasília time) on Thursday (August 29) to comply with the order, which he did not do.
The suspension of the social network in Brazil is yet another chapter in the long-running dispute between Moraes and Musk that has been dragging on for months. On August 17, X closed its office in the country and laid off all local employees. At the time, the platform said it would continue to be available to Brazilian users.
Musk is the target of two investigations by the Brazilian justice system. Inquiry 4,957 investigates accusations against the billionaire for obstruction of justice, “including in criminal organizations and incitement to crime”.
In the decision that overturned X, Moraes states that this was not the first time that Musk had disrespected orders imposed on the network and that, on other occasions, he had already demonstrated “its total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the Judiciary, positioning itself as a true supranational entity and immune to the legislation of each country”.
“The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian justice, the incitement to crime, the public threat of disobedience to court orders and the future lack of cooperation from the platform are facts that disrespected Brazil’s sovereignty and reinforce the connection between the willful criminal instrumentalization of social networks, with the illicit practices investigated by the various inquiries.”, he states in the document. Read the full of the decision (PDF – 374 kB).
In addition to the suspension of the social network, the minister also ordered the application of a daily fine of R$50,000 for anyone using the platform through “technological subterfuge”such as a VPN (Virtual Private Network).
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