Elon Musk's X Shuts Down Operations In Brazil. Here’s Why.

Elon Musk's social media platform, X, will cease operations in Brazil "effective immediately," as announced by its Global Government Affairs account.

The platform cited that Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes threatened its legal representative with arrest for not complying with censorship orders.

Judge de Moraes had previously ordered the blocking of X accounts accused of spreading disinformation, many of which are supporters of former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, while they are under investigation.

Following criticism from Musk, the judge imposed daily fines of 100,000 reais (Rs 15,00,000) for any account that X reactivated.

X stated that its Brazilian staff had no control over content blocking but claimed that Judge de Moraes had chosen to threaten the staff instead of adhering to the law.

The judge had also included Musk in an investigation accusing him of obstructing proceedings. In response, Musk accused the judge of betraying Brazil's constitution and its people, calling for his dismissal.