Politicians and many other X users took to social media platforms on Saturday to express their disagreement with the site's ban in Brazil, as a court-imposed deadline for the company to identify a legal representative in Brazil expired.
“X is the most used news source in Brazil. This is what the people want. Now the dictator de Voldemort is crushing people's right to freedom of speech,” X owner Elon Musk wrote after the decision.
The move is the latest chapter in an ongoing dispute between a Brazilian Supreme Court judge and Musk, which also includes the freezing of the financial accounts of Starlink, a satellite internet provider in Brazil, in which Musk owns a 40% stake.
“The current Brazilian administration likes to cloak itself in free democracy while crushing the people beneath its boots,” Musk wrote.
In the decision, Moraes ordered the complete and immediate suspension of X’s operations in the country until X complies with all relevant court orders, including paying a fine of 18.5 million reais ($3.28 million) and nominating a legal representative in Brazil.
Addressing the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent the blocking, Moraes said individuals or companies who try to maintain access to the social network could be fined up to 50,000 reais per day, the equivalent of about $9,000.
Many people supported Musk and expressed their outrage over the ban.
“Brazil is banning X for one reason: to suppress free speech and thought. Not surprisingly, Lula supports this decision, as he also wants to ban free speech and thought. Biden wooed Lula, celebrated his election and called him a personal friend. This is also not a surprise,” Texas Senator Ted Cruz wrote in a post on X. “The Biden-Harris administration has shown nothing but contempt for free speech in the United States.”
Outkick host Clay Travis also pointed out that the NFL is hosting a game in Brazil next week and called on them to take action and refuse to play the game in the troubled country.
“I doubt the NFL will do this, but it would be a strong move to support freedom of expression by canceling next Friday's game in Brazil due to the ban on country X and playing Eagles-Packers in the US. US reporters, teams and players will not be able to tweet from Brazil,” Travis wrote in a post on X.
Cruz shared her post and also commented on the situation.
“Amen. If the NFL cares about the Constitution and freedom of speech they should cancel the game immediately,” Cruz wrote.
Musk took a dig at the United States, hinting that this type of censorship could happen if Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are elected.
“The attacks on freedom of expression this year are unprecedented in the 21st century. The same will happen in the US if Kamala/Walz come to power. Just listen to what they said,” Musk wrote.
De Moraes earlier this year ordered X to shut down certain accounts, accusing the platform of harboring a “digital militia” that he claimed were spreading misinformation and hateful content about former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Reasons for Demanding “Justice” [de Moraes] “The prosecution of us in Brazil would require us to (secretly) break Brazilian, Argentinian, US and international law, leaving us with no choice but to shut down our local operations in Brazil,” Musk said in a previous post on X. “That is a gross affront to justice.”
On Friday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva supported de Moraes' decision and accused Musk of being above the law during an interview with Radio MasPB.
“Any citizen from anywhere in the world who has investments in Brazil is subject to the Brazilian constitution and Brazilian laws,” Lula said.
BlueSky, a social media platform launched last year as an alternative to X and other social media sites, has seen a large influx of Brazilians in the past few days, the AP reports.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Fox News Digital's Timothy Nerozzi and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
