Anyone trying to access X in Brazil was blocked on Saturday, after the country issued a court order blocking Elon Musk’s social media site.
Over the past 24 hours, Brazilians, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, have said goodbye to X, with some posting links to their profiles on other social media platforms.
Attempts to access the site on Saturday via a web browser or the app resulted in an error message.
The blockade comes after Brazil’s Supreme Court on Friday ordered X’s nationwide suspension after Musk refused to appoint a legal representative in the country.
Brazilian law requires companies operating in the jurisdiction to have legal representation. But X, formerly known as Twitter, closed its Brazilian representative office on August 17 after Judge Alexandre de Moraes threatened to prosecute its local representatives over its refusal to comply with orders to block users.
It escalates a months-long feud over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. The Supreme Court previously ordered the blocking of several X accounts as part of Brazil’s sweeping investigation into the spread of online misinformation and hate speech aimed at undermining the country’s democracy.
De Moraes warned Musk on Wednesday night that X could be blocked in Brazil if he did not comply with the order to appoint a representative, and set a deadline of 24 hours.
He said the platform would remain blocked until it complied with the demands.
The feud The situation grew even more dire on Friday when the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by satellite internet company Starlink — also owned by Musk — to unfreeze his financial accounts, CNN affiliate CNN Brazil reported.
The financial accounts of Starlink, an internet service provider that the tech billionaire also owns through SpaceX, were frozen in the country on Thursday to secure payment of fines imposed as part of legal disputes with X.
According to SpaceX, Starlink is used by more than 250,000 people in Brazil. The service, which does not require a cable connection, is particularly popular in the Amazon rainforest and remote rural areas and is used daily by academics, tour operators and government officials in the region, as well as Brazilian military units deployed there.
During Starlink’s appeal, the company argued that it had no part in the case against X and that the order freezing X’s accounts violated the company’s fundamental property rights.
Friday’s ruling on Starlink has no direct implications for the company, though the company warned in a statement on Thursday that it “bars Starlink from conducting financial transactions in that country.”
“This decision is based on an unfounded finding that Starlink should be responsible for the fines imposed – unconstitutionally – on X,” the internet provider said in the statement posted on X.
Musk said Thursday night that Starlink’s service will remain available for free as the company is unable to accept payments due to a court order.
“Many remote schools and hospitals depend on SpaceX’s Starlink!” Musk wrote on X.
Brazil is an important market for X, which has struggled with the loss of advertisers since Musk’s takeover. About 40 million Brazilians, about a fifth of the population, visit X at least once a month, according to market research group Emarketer.
The platform has reportedly previously shut down at the behest of Brazilian authorities, including lawmakers with ties to former President Jair Bolsonaro’s right-wing party and activists accused of undermining Brazilian democracy.
Musk, a self-described “freedom of speech absolutist” and CEO of electric carmaker Tesla, has repeatedly claimed that de Moraes’ actions amount to censorship, a point echoed by Brazil’s political right.
De Moraes’s defenders have said his actions against X were lawful, supported by most of the entire court and served to protect democracy at a time when it is under pressure.
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