Justice Alexandre de Moraes determines Elon Musk has 24 hours to appoint an X representative in Brazil under penalty of taking down the platform

Brasil de Fato

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes determined that the owner of X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk, has 24 hours to appoint a new legal representative for the platform in Brazil. The subpoena was published on X by the Court’s profile, in response to a post on August 17 by the platform’s Global Government Affairs account.

The post stated that Moraes had threatened to arrest the platform’s legal representative in Brazil if certain accounts and publications were not deleted. At the time, X fired all its employees in the country and closed down its activities in Brazil.

The Supreme Court’s subpoena is motivated by the platform’s lack of legal representation in the country, which is not allowed by Brazilian legislation. If the deadline is not met, the Justice could suspend X’s operations in the country.

Documento posted on X by the Supreme Court’s profile/ Imagem: @STF_oficial

Moraes is the Court’s rapporteur for inquiries investigating the spread of disinformation on social media platforms, especially about the fairness of electronic voting machines. The Justice is the author of orders that suspended profiles involved in spreading disinformation about the Brazilian electoral process. Musk is under investigation for alleged obstruction of justice, criminal organization and incitement to crime.