It’s not the news that X and Starlink owner Elon Musk would want to hear but new reports are shedding light on a complete shutdown of X in Brazil.
The incident arose after a local judge blocked Starlink’s bank accounts amid a worsening crisis with the X app. Brazil’s top judge from the Supreme Court threatened to force the app out of the country. This was in line with its direct reply to the ongoing lawsuit as reported by Reuters.
Musk has long been feuding with the country’s Supreme Court judge for more than a few months now. This has to do with demands to block specific accounts on the app in the country. We’re already aware of X shutting down operations in Brazil earlier in August as a reply to the court’s orders. The company has called the act a form of censorship that restricted free speech.
Now, the judge appears to be targeting Musk’s other company Starlink to try and make the app comply with the court’s rulings. Starlink generated a response on the matter, accusing the court of making Starlink pay for the fines that it imposed against X.
The statement goes on to claim that the decision was made discreetly and no formal notice was provided to the country and is totally against the country’s own constitution. Now, Musk vows to deal with the matter through legal proceedings.
The judge also threatened to close the X app permanently in Brazil if they failed to appoint a legal rep in the nation. Now, X is anticipating a complete shutdown of operations in Brazil as revealed in the company’s update on Thursday.
The company stood by its claims, adding that it never forced any nation to have the same level of freedom of speech as the US. However, it highlighted that the major problem here was more linked to the judge breaking Brazil’s laws.
X vows to go all out and be transparent with the matter so users are aware of what exactly is taking place. They called the judge’s demands illegal and vowed to go public with court filings that it referred to as unacceptable.
The matter is certainly a wake-up call for many Brazilians who may not have seen this coming.
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