Brazilians who use a VPN to access X will face a fine of $13,150 (50,000 reais) with the social media platform blocked in the country over the weekend after Elon Musk failed to obey a court order.

The Brazil Supreme Court late last week ordered that X be blocked in the country until the company complies with a number of orders, including for the appointment of a local legal representative and the payment of nearly $4.5 million in fines.

The country’s telecommunications regulator began to institute the ban over the weekend, and users in Brazil attempting to access X are now met with a message saying “seems like you lost connectivity. We’ll keep retrying”.

The court initially gave Apple and Google five days to remove X from their respective app stores and block access to the platform, but later reversed this order.

Brazil is a major market for X, with an estimated 22 million users. It is the world’s fifth largest digital population.

Musk v Brazil

The ban is the culmination of a six-month feud between X CEO Elon Musk and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

In April this year, the judge ordered X to ban anti-democratic, far-right accounts on the platform following an uprising in the country’s capital by supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Musk had previously aligned himself with Bolsonaro and refused to comply with this order, accusing de Moraes of trying to stifle free speech.

In response, Musk shuttered X’s Brazilian office but kept the platform running in the country.

Last week, the judge gave Musk a 24-hour deadline to name a legal representative for Brazil or X would be banned in the country.

Musk also refused this order and did not meet the deadline, with de Moraes ordering an “immediate and complete suspension” of X in Brazil until the court orders are complied with.

The judge said X was treating its own platform “like a no man’s land – a veritable land without law” due to the “massive propagation” of misinformation, hate speech and anti-democratic posts.

“Those who violate democracy, who violate fundamental human rights, whether in person or through social media, must be held accountable,” da Moraes said.

Musk responded by labelling the judge as “Voldemort”, a “dictator” and a “fraud”.

“They’re shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil,” Musk posted.

The ban has been backed by Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva over the weekend.

“Any citizen, from anywhere in the world, who has investments in Brazil, is subject to the Brazilian Constitution and Brazilian laws,” da Silva said.

“Therefore, if the Supreme Court has made a decision for citizens to comply with certain things, they have to comply or take another course of action.

“It’s not because the guy has a lot of money that he can disrespect it.”

The judge also ordered a fine of $13,150 (50,000 reais) for any individuals or companies found to be accessing X in Brazil using a VPN, although legal experts have questioned the validity of this and how it would be enforced.

Last week the Brazilian court also froze the bank accounts of Starlink, another Musk-led company and a unit of SpaceX.

Musk has since said that it will provide Starlink to all Brazilians, including the military, for free “until the matter is resolved”.

Musk v Australia

The X CEO has also clashed with regulators in Australia this year, and has refused to comply with an eSafety Commissioner-issued fine.

The eSafety Commissioner launched a court challenge against X after the company refused an order to take down posts with a video of a Sydney church stabbing.

The eSafety Commission eventually dropped this case.

X has also been fined $600,000 in Australia for failing to disclose the ways it tackles child abuse material on the platform, but it is yet to pay this.

And earlier this year, a Queensland tribunal ruled that X is subject to Australian laws, including the state’s anti-discrimination rules, and action can be taken against it for content posted on it that is in breach of Australian laws.

Update 3/9/2024 - Brazil's Supreme Court has upheld the decision by Justice Alexandre de Moraes to ban access to X in the country.