Brazil top court judges to vote on ban of Musk’s X

Brazil’s Supreme Court will vote on Monday whether or not to uphold a ruling to ban social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Justice Alexandre Moraes called for the vote after the platform was suspended in the country in the early hours of Saturday.

It came after X failed to appoint a new legal representative in Brazil before a court-imposed deadline.

A feud between Justice Moraes and X’s owner Elon Musk began in April when the the judge ordered the suspension of dozens of X accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation.

There are 11 justices in Brazil’s Supreme Court, which is split into two chambers of five members each, excluding the chief justice. The chambers can vote on whether to uphold or reject rulings by any one of its judges.

Justice Moraes is a member of the first chamber that will be reviewing his decision to ban X.

Reacting to the decision to ban X, Mr Musk said: “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes.”

In his ruling, Justice Moraes gave companies, including Apple and Google, a five-day deadline to remove X from its app stores and block its use on iOS and Android devices.

He added that individuals or businesses that are found to still be accessing X by using virtual private networks (VPNs) could be fined R$50,000 (£6,700).

X closed its office in Brazil last month, saying its representative had been threatened with arrest if she did not comply with orders it described as “censorship”, which it described as illegal under Brazilian law.

Justice Moraes had ordered that X accounts accused of spreading disinformation – many of which were supporters of the former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro – must be blocked while they are under investigation.

Brazil is said to be one of the largest markets for Mr Musk’s social media network.