Microblogging platform ‘X’ owned by billionaire Elon Musk has been banned in Brazil after it failed to meet a deadline set by a Supreme Court judge to name a new legal representative in the country.
The platform is expected to be unavailable in the country within the next 24 hours.
Justice Moraes has given five-day deadline to companies such as Apple and Google to remove X from their application stores and block its use on iOS and Android systems.
He added that people or businesses using means such as VPNs (virtual private network) to access the platform could be fined R$50,000 (£6.7k).
According to the judge’s order, a ban will be in effect until X names a new legal representative in the country and pays fines for violating Brazilian law.
The row between X and the judge began in April, when the judge ordered the suspension of several X accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation.
Elon Musk reacted by saying that an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes.
The head of Brazil’s telecommunications agency, which has been tasked with suspending the platform, said he is “proceeding with the compliance” to do so, according to Reuters news agency.
In a previous post from one of its official accounts, X had said it would not comply with the demands.
Comments are closed.