Brazil’s Supreme Court is facing a backlash over its decision to ban Elon Musk’s X and fine users who access the social media platform using virtual private networks, amid rising concerns that the top court has gone too far in its fight against fake news and misinformation online.
On Saturday, regulators blocked access to X across Latin America’s largest nation following an order by Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes, who also ruled that users who accessed the site using VPNs would face daily fines of around $8,000.
The orders came after X refused to comply with a deadline to appoint a legal representative for the company in Brazil — a requirement under the country’s civil code. The company had earlier last month closed its office in Brazil, one of its biggest markets, amid an escalating feud between Musk and Moraes.