Brazilian Supreme court upholds X ban in the country as feud with Musk continues

The Brazilian Supreme Court has voted to uphold the ban on X as the feud between its owner, Elon Musk, and justice Alexandre de Moraes continues.

Concretely, Justices Flavio Dino and Cristiano Zanin sided with Moraes, who ordered the suspension on August 30 after the social media company failed to appoint a legal representative in Brazil.

"It is not possible for a company to operate in the territory of a country and intend to impose its vision on which rules should be valid or applied," said Justice Dino when communicating his decision to side with Moraes. "A party that intentionally fails to comply with court decisions appears to consider itself above the rule of law. And so it can turn into an outlaw," he added, according to Reuters.

De Moraes had compelled Musk to appoint a legal representative so over the past week following his decision to cease the company's operations in the country amid an ongoing feud over what constitutes acceptable freedom of speech in the platform. X has been down in Brazil since Saturday morning. De Moraes has said the platform will continue to be blocked until the company complies with the request. Musk, on his end, has been using the platform to repeatedly blast de Moraes, accusing him of being a dictator and abusing his powers.

The conflict has been going on for years and began when the Brazilian Supreme Court took action against several accounts tied to the country's right-wing movement, particularly those linked to former president Jair Bolsonaro.

De Moraes ordered accounts be blocked for attempting to discredit the country's electoral system and process, part of Bolsonaro's effort to overturn the 2022 presidential elections he ultimately lost against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

X did not fully comply with the orders, leading the judge to intensify the pressure on the platform. Musk is also being investigated in the country for defying the court's orders, alleged obstruction of justice.

Back in April, X's account tracking relations with global government affairs said that the platform had been "forced by court decisions to block certain popular accounts in Brazil" and taken said action.

"We do not know the reasons these blocking orders have been issued. We do not know which posts are alleged to violate the law. We are prohibited from saying which court or judge issued the order, or on what grounds. We are threatened with daily fines if we fail to comply," read a passage of the post.

However, Musk then stepped in and criticized de Moraes for "brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil." He added that the justice should "resign or be impeached" and vowed to reinstate all accounts and lift all restrictions.

The feud has not gone unnoticed, and even President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva discussed the issue. In an interview on Friday, Lula asked Musk to take "a different attitude," saying that "any citizen from anywhere in the world who has investments in Brazil has to abide by the Constitution and Brazilian laws." He added that not because of his wealth he can "disrespect" and "offend" Brazilian authorities.