Elon Musk has missed a deadline set by the Supreme Court in Brazil to name legal representation for his social media company X, and now the platform could be banned in the country that has 200 million residents.
Last week, Musk closed the office that his company had in Brazil to protest the orders handed down by a Supreme Court justice in Brazil that would force X to suspend some accounts.
The justice said that if X didn’t comply with the orders, it would lose access to one of the largest markets it has outside of the United States.
Ironically, the order was actually posted on X by the court Wednesday night, warning Musk that he had until roughly 8 p.m. local time on Thursday to respond.
About an hour after that deadline, though, X responded that it wouldn’t be complying with the order. Now, it’s up to Brazil’s Supreme Court to act if it really plans on banning the platform in the country.
On Friday morning, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, said during a radio interview:
“Just because the guy [Musk] has a lot of money doesn’t mean they can disrespect you. … Who does he think he is?”
X hasn’t had any legal representatives in Brazil since August 17. That’s when Musk announced that his social media platform would shut down all operations in Brazil “effectively immediately” because of what the company called “censorship orders” that came from Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Morales.
To this point, people in Brazil could still access the platform.
All of this began in April following the judge’s ruling, which ordered that X immediately suspend dozens of accounts for spreading alleged disinformation. Musk refused to do that, though.
The order came after the country conducted investigations into what it was calling “digital militias” who had backed efforts by former President Jair Bolsonaro to remain in power even after he was defeated in the 2022 election.
Musk was included in the country’s investigation after the head of X refused to comply with the order.
On Wednesday of this week, X was given 24 hours to comply by appointing new legal representation in Brazil, which is a requirement of all foreign companies that operate in the country, “under penalty of immediate suspension of the social network’s activities.”
But, X announced that it “would not comply with his [Moraes’] illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
Lula was asked about Musk not complying with the orders as part of the radio interview. He replied:
“Any and all citizens from anywhere in the world who have investments in Brazil are subject to the Brazilian constitution and Brazilian laws. … [Musk] must respect the decision of the Brazilian supreme court. … If not, this country will never be sovereign.”
It’s not clear at this point when access to X will ultimately be suspended to users in Brazil, or if it will at all.