• by Colin Kirkland , August 29, 2024

X is facing a potential ban in Brazil after a Brazilian Supreme Court judge warned X owner Elon Musk that the platform would be suspended in Brazil if Musk does not name a legal representative for the platform by Thursday night.

X last week officially shut down its Brazilian office and removed its employees there to avoid arrest of local staff members for its failure to comply with a previous warning regarding the spread of misinformation and harmful content that is in violation of the country's internet laws.

In April, Justice Alexandre de Moraes began investigating Musk for obstruction of justice after Musk publicly stated he would not comply with a court order to suppress certain accounts believed to be spreading false reports and hate speech in Brazil. 

In response to the initial request to block these accounts, X said that Moraes’ letter “demands censorship of popular Brazilian accounts, including a pastor, a current Parliamentarian, and the wife of a former Parliamentarian,” adding that the request was made in secret and did not align with the platform’s “free speech” moderation strategy.

Brazil is X’s sixth-highest usage market in the world, with over 21 million users. Restricting access in the region, even temporarily, could result in a major loss in ad revenue and usage for the company as it continues to struggle. 

X’s ad revenue remains about 70% lower than it was before Musk took over the app in 2022, and despite Musk’s ongoing attempts at relying on alternative revenue streams, such as premium subscriptions, ad spend still delivers the most profit.

In terms of users, Musk continues to post on X about record high engagement, but often the numbers are misleading. The company has seen drastic drops in usage, including the loss of 5 million users in the European market following Musk’s incendiary comments about the recent U.K. riots.

Regardless of whether X appoints a new legal representative in Brazil, Musk has doubled down on his opinion of Moraes, calling him “a tyrant,” “an utter disgrace to justice” and even addressing the local population: “The people of Brazil have a choice to make – democracy, or Alexandre de Moraes.”