The Supreme Court of Brazil has upheld an order to ban Elon Musk’s social media platform X in the country and impose fines on those who bypass the ban using a virtual private network (VPN).
All five judges on the Supreme Court panel voted in favor of the decision to shut down the platform during a virtual session on Monday. X still has the option to appeal the ruling following the conclusion of the hearing.
The platform has been suspended since a late Friday order issued by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is leading efforts to combat fake news and hate speech in Brazil. However, Moraes has faced criticism for allegedly undermining free speech in his attempts to regulate online content.
Moraes ordered the suspension after Musk ignored several previous rulings, including one that required him to appoint a legal representative for X in Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy.
As a result, X went offline over the weekend, affecting its 20 million users in Brazil—one of the world’s most internet-active countries.
According to Moraes’ order, the suspension will remain in place until X complies by blocking profiles that spread anti-democratic or criminal content, paying the fines imposed so far, and appointing a legal representative in Brazil.
The judges also voted to enforce Moraes’ order threatening anyone using a VPN to access X with a daily fine of 50,000 reais (approximately $8,900).
The panel did not address a separate order to block the bank accounts of Musk’s satellite internet provider, Starlink. This decision aims to compel the company to pay the fines imposed on X.
Starlink Brazil Holding LTDA filed an appeal on Friday, requesting the Supreme Court to lift the order, arguing that its internet business is unrelated to the case against X. However, Justice Cristiano Zanin denied the appeal, keeping the financial assets blocked.
Brazil’s telecommunications regulator, Anatel, confirmed on Monday that Starlink had informally communicated its refusal to comply with the X suspension order.