Brazil’s Supreme Court Demands Elon Musk to Appoint Legal Representative for X or Face Suspension
Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Federal Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal or STF) of Brazil has given Elon Musk a 24-hour deadline to appoint a legal representative for his social media platform X in Brazil. If Musk fails to comply, X could face a nationwide suspension.
The STF shared this directive on its official X handle, stating, “STF summons Elon Musk and X to appoint a legal representative within 24 hours, under penalty of suspension of activities in Brazil.”
On its official site, the STF elaborated, “Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), summoned on Wednesday night (28) businessman Elon Musk, owner of the social network X (formerly Twitter), to indicate, within 24 hours, the new legal representative of the company in Brazil.”
The STF warned that non-compliance would result in the suspension of X’s operations in Brazil. “In case of non-compliance with the determination, the decision provides for the suspension of the social network’s activities in Brazil,” the STF said.
Musk is currently under investigation in inquiry (INQ) 4957, which looks into alleged crimes such as obstruction of justice, criminal organization, and incitement to crime. Earlier this year, Alexandre de Moraes had ordered X to block accounts accused of spreading false information and hate messages, including some accounts belonging to supporters of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro had claimed that Brazil’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud before a tightly contested election in 2022. After losing to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed top state institutions in Brazil to express their anger over the results.
Moraes, who also presides over Brazil’s Superior Electoral Tribunal, stated, “Freedom of expression doesn’t mean freedom of aggression.” He added, “It doesn’t mean the freedom to defend tyranny.”
Earlier this year, Moraes also opened a probe into Musk after he said he would reactivate accounts on X that the judge had ordered to block.
Doubts Revealed
Supreme Court -: The Supreme Court is the highest court in a country. It makes important decisions about laws and justice.
Elon Musk -: Elon Musk is a famous businessman who owns companies like Tesla and SpaceX. He also owns the social media platform X.
Legal Representative -: A legal representative is a person who acts on behalf of a company in legal matters. They help the company follow the laws of the country.
X -: X is a social media platform owned by Elon Musk. People use it to share messages and information online.
Suspension -: Suspension means stopping something for a while. In this case, it means stopping the operations of the social media platform X in Brazil.
Obstruction of Justice -: Obstruction of justice means doing something to stop the police or courts from finding out the truth about a crime.
Incitement to Crime -: Incitement to crime means encouraging or persuading someone to commit a crime.
False Information -: False information is information that is not true. It can mislead people and cause harm.
Hate Messages -: Hate messages are messages that spread hate or encourage violence against people based on their race, religion, or other characteristics.
