Legal tyranny: judge in Brazil orders X blocked and threatens fines of nearly $9,000 a day for those who use VPN to access the social network

Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes officially ordered the blocking of the social network X (formerly Twitter) after Elon Musk refused to abide by the Brazilian magistrate's censorship orders.

Judge de Moraes' decision follows an extensive legal dispute with X, a platform he ordered to block users (including conservative political leaders), appoint a legal representative in the country and comply with a series of demands that, according to Musk, go against the basic principles of freedom of expression that the social network protects and promotes.

The formal suspension came after the expiration of the deadline of the Brazilian Supreme Court's order, which required Musk to appoint a new legal representative for the company in the country and pay a series of accumulated fines.

After the one-day deadline set by de Moraes, Musk still refused to provide a new name to fill the position. So far, X is still operating in Brazil, however, the platform is expected to be out of service shortly.

The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) has already received the notification from Judge de Moraes with the order to warn internet operators that they must remove users' access to X within 24 hours.

In addition to the formal suspension of X, Judge de Moraes further threatened all Brazilians with fines of almost $9,000 per day to any person or company that uses mechanisms such as a VPN to log on to the social platform.

App stores, such as App Store and Google Play Store, will also have five days to remove X from their respective platforms.

"The oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries," denounced tycoon Elon Musk, citing a publication summarizing Judge de Moraes' orders.

In another publication, the tycoon said that the United States could be the next country to ban a social platform for refusing to subscribe to government censorship orders.

"The attacks this year on free speech are unprecedented in the 21st century. It will happen in America too if Kamala/Walz gain power. Just listen to what they’ve said," Musk said.

The decision comes as no surprise because X had proclaimed on Thursday that it would not attack the Brazilian judge's censorship order.

"In short, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes to order the blocking of X in Brazil, simply because we have not complied with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents," the platform wrote in a statement from its global affairs account.

"When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts. Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes’ colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him," denounced X.

Musk even wrote on his X account after the announcement was made that "Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes."

"The oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries," the tycoon insisted.