Elon Musk Photo courtesy
Brazil’s Supreme Court will vote on whether to uphold a verdict banning social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Justice Alexandre Moraes called for the vote after the platform was halted in the country early Saturday morning.
It came after X failed to appoint a new legal representation in Brazil by the court-mandated deadline.
Justice Moraes’ spat with X’s owner Elon Musk began in April when the judge ordered the suspension of dozens of accounts for allegedly propagating falsehoods.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has 11 justices, divided into two chambers of five each (excluding the chief justice).
The chambers can vote on whether to uphold or overturn verdicts made by any of its judges. Justice Moraes is a member of the first chamber, which will consider his judgment to ban X.
In response to the decision to prohibit X, Mr Musk stated: “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy, and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes.”
In his decision, Justice Moraes handed firms, including Apple and Google, a five-day deadline to remove X from app stores and disable its use on iOS and Android devices.
X closed its office in Brazil last month, claiming that its representative had been threatened with arrest if she did not comply with “censorship” directives that were prohibited under Brazilian law.
