Brazilian Judge Orders ISPs to Completely Block X/Twitter, Daily Fines for VPN Access Set at $8,900

The conflict between Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and the social media platform X/Twitter, owned by Elon Musk, continues as the justice accuses Musk of refusing to comply with court orders to delete certain accounts. Initially, de Moraes attempted to pressure Musk by ordering the arrest of X/Twitter's legal representative in Brazil. In response, Musk immediately shut down all of X's operations in Brazil, though Brazilian users are still able to access the platform.

Despite the shutdown of its Brazilian operations, X, which has tens of millions of users in the country, remains accessible. However, a new court order issued by de Moraes now requires all Brazilian ISPs to block domains related to X within 24 hours.

Remarkably, de Moraes has also frozen the Brazilian bank accounts of Starlink, another venture owned by Elon Musk, despite it being an entirely separate business entity from X. This drastic measure has caused a stir, given the lack of direct connection between Starlink and X.

Furthermore, in efforts to enforce the ISP blockade, de Moraes, on behalf of the Brazilian Supreme Court, has sent letters to Apple and Google, demanding the removal of the X/Twitter app from their stores within five days to prevent Brazilian users from downloading it, or face non-compliance.

Following the ISP blockade, Brazilian users can still access X through VPNs and other networks. De Moraes has established punitive policies for this as well: Brazilian users found accessing X via VPN could face fines of 50,000 Brazilian reais per day (approximately $8,900).

Given the escalated tensions between Elon Musk and Alexandre de Moraes, access to X in Brazil could be severely impacted, potentially affecting X's advertising revenue. However, it seems unlikely that access to X will be restored in Brazil anytime soon.