Social media giant X said it expected Brazil’s top court to order it to shut down late Thursday, as a pitched legal battle played out over compliance with local laws and owner Elon Musk’s insistence the platform is being punished for resisting censorship.
The popular social media platform posted the announcement from its global affairs account, saying it expected Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes to order the shutdown “soon,” moments after a court-imposed deadline passed.
Earlier on Thursday, the Supreme Court blocked the local bank accounts of billionaire Musk’s Starlink satellite internet firm, in which he owns a 40% stake, while the underlying feud over X put it on the brink of being shuttered in one of its top markets.
The two firms are part of Musk’s sprawling business empire which also includes rocket company SpaceX and electric car giant Tesla. The billionaire is the owner of X and the CEO of Tesla .
Starlink had previously confirmed it received an order from the judge that prevents the company from conducting financial transactions in Brazil.
In a Thursday night post on X, Musk lashed out at Moraes, decrying the ruling to block Starlink as illegal and that it would “improperly” punish other shareholders as well as ordinary Brazilians.
Signed by Moraes, the court’s decision to sanction Starlink is a response to the lack of legal representatives in Brazil for X, a Supreme Court source told Reuters.
The decision to freeze Starlink’s bank accounts also stems from a separate dispute over unpaid fines that X was ordered to pay due to its failure to turn 한국을 over some documents. Local newspaper Folha has reported the fines total at least 20 million reais ($3.6 million), but Reuters was not able to confirm the amount.
The Supreme Court had set a deadline for X to name its legal representative in Brazil by shortly after 8:00 p.m. (2300 GMT) on Thursday.
At issue in the intensifying dispute is whether Moraes can order X to block certain accounts accused of spreading lies and distortions, a request Musk has denounced as censorship.
Most of the accounts ordered blocked are run by backers of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, some of which deny he lost his 2022 reelection bid.
Brazilian law requires all internet companies to have a legal representative in the country who can receive judicial orders and otherwise be legally responsible for the business.
Late Wednesday, Moraes signed an order for X to name its legal representative or face suspension in the country.
In a previous post, Musk complained that Moraes “is an outright criminal of the worst kind, masquerading as a judge.”
Starlink, in its own post, accused the judge of secretly issuing the order without due process