In a blow to X (formerly Twitter) and its billionaire owner Elon Musk, a panel of Brazil’s federal supreme court justices upheld orders suspending the use of the microblogging site in the country. The court also ordered the seizure of Starlink’s assets, which is another of Musk’s privately-held companies, to ensure that X pays the pending fine of $3 million.

For context, on Friday, Justice Alexandre de Moraes banned X in Brazil after Musk refused to comply with court orders blocking certain accounts. The microblogging site did not also appoint a legal representative in Brazil as warranted by the court. The court set App stores and internet service providers a deadline of September 4 to block X in Brazil.

Musk has long been in a feud with de Moraes over rampant misinformation on X and far-right accounts using the platform to spread hatred. The X owner refused to take down accounts flagged by the Judge, arguing that it would be needless censorship and detrimental to free speech.

Brazil Bans X Amid Feud with Elon Musk

In his order last week, de Moraes lashed out at Musk and said, “Elon Musk showed his total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the judiciary, setting himself up as a true supranational entity and immune to the laws of each country.”

He added, that X’s conduct “clearly intends to continue to encourage posts with extremism, hate speech and anti-democratic discourse, and to try to withdraw them from jurisdictional control.” The five-judge bench of Brazil’s Supreme Court also upheld the verdict paving the way for banning X in the country.

The country which is led by left-leaning President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been at odds with X for quite some time now. Meanwhile, Musk – who has become an outspoken conservative voice on social media, and has backed Donald Trump’s candidature in the upcoming US presidential elections – has found support in Brazilian political right.

What Happens to X and Musk After the Ban in Brazil?

According to market research group EMarketer, around 40 million people access X at least once every month in Brazil, which is around a quarter of the South American country’s population.

X’s CEO Linda Yaccarino lamented the ban and said on Friday, “This is a sad day for X users around the world, especially those in Brazil, who are being denied access to our platform. I wish it did not have to come to this – it breaks my heart.”

While users in Brazil have flocked to VPNs to access X, it is also illegal as the judges have imposed a fine of nearly $9,000 on those trying to bypass the ban, which among others, includes using a VPN connection to access the microblogging site.

One option that big Brazilian enterprises could choose is to have their X account managed from outside Brazil. However, they would not be able to communicate with the domestic audience in that case even as they can connect with users outside Brazil.

Brazil Ban Looks Yet Another Blow for X

Brazilians have meanwhile turned to alternate social media platforms like Bluesky after the X ban. Bluesky CEO Jay Graber seems quite delighted at the increase in users from Brazil and lauded those joining the network by posting. “Good job Brazil, you made the right choice.”

While there is still a slight chance for X and it can appeal the ban to a larger bench, it looks quite unlikely that the Elon Musk-run company would get any reprieve.

The Brazil ban is yet another blow for X which has been battling an exodus of advertisers. Despite Musk’s aggressive cost cuts, which included firing nearly three-fourths of the company’s employees, X has been posting losses. As the company now loses all the revenues that it was making from Brazil, its financial condition might deteriorate further.

Brazilian President Says His Country Has Set an Example for Others

The Brazilian President has said that his country’s crackdown on X and Musk could serve as an example for other countries. “The world is not obliged to put up with Musk’s far-right ideology just because he is rich,” said Lula da Silva speaking with local media.

That said, many other countries have taken measures to cajole X to comply with their diktats, and we already have a template from India.

While X tried to stand upto the Indian government and even labeled some posts by leaders of the all-powerful ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leaders as “manipulated media,” it has since caved in, especially after Musk acquired the company in late 2022.

Musk’s “Free Speech Absolutism” Has Been Selective

Notably, while Musk has tried to take the moral high ground and tweeted, “We will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit,” his commitment to free speech is quite debatable.

Last year, Musk defended the decision to censor X in Turkey ahead of the key elections. Musk, who proclaimed himself as a “free speech absolutist” has said that it is better than throttling the service in the country.

X has been complying with many takedown requests from the Indian government and has suspended many accounts that were critical of the country’s ruling party and its leaders, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Among the most controversial of these was censoring a BBC documentary critical of Modi.

Speaking with an Indian news channel last year, Musk said, “Twitter doesn’t have a choice but to obey local governments.” He added, “If we don’t obey local government law, then we will get shut down. The best we can do is really to hew close to the law in any given country, but it’s impossible for us to do more than that or we will be blocked and our people will be arrested.”

Clearly, his free speech absolutism is quite selective, especially when it could impact his other companies.

Musk’s Ownership of X Could Hurt His Other Companies

Notably, apart from Twitter, Musk also owns SpaceX and is the majority owner of Tesla. SpaceX has helped Turkey launch satellites and Musk and Erdogan have discussed lithium batteries.

Musk faces a similar dilemma in China, one of Tesla’s most important markets. Last year, the country chided Musk after he replied to a tweet about the Wuhan lab leak report.

Tesla has also been looking to set up a plant in India so clearly Musk might not want to antagonize the government there.

Could Europe Also Act Against X?

The next battleground for X could be Europe where Musk is already at odds with regulators over hate speech and misinformation on X. The European Commission believes that X is not complying with its DSA (Digital Services Act). Musk meanwhile asserts that the Commission wants it to censor free speech to escape fines.

Incidentally, last month France arrested Telegram founder and CEO Parel Durov. Telegram has been on the radar of several law enforcement agencies over what they believe is the company’s failure to curb booming illegal activities through its network.

Meanwhile, France’s arresting Durov over the activities of the company he leads led to much furor from many leading personalities – including Musk calling for his release.

Many then wondered whether Musk could also be arrested in Europe. Now, with Brazil trying to project its clampdown on X as a global model, could Europe also act against the social media company? Looks unlikely for now, but given the growing misinformation and rising instances of hate speech on the platform, it would be fair to expect more countries acting against X.