Brazil’s telecommunications regulator said on Friday it was banning access to Elon Musk’s X social network in the country to comply with a judge’s decision following a months-long fight with the billionaire investor.
Alexandre de Moraes, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, ordered Brazil’s telecom agency to ‘adopt all necessary measures’ within 24 hours to block access to X across the nation of 200 million because the company lacked a physical presence in Brazil.
He also said that people who use VPNs to circumvent the block and access X could face fines of nearly $9,000 a day. VPNs, which can make internet traffic appear as though it was coming from a different country, are commonly used software for privacy and cybersecurity.
Mr. Musk closed X’s office in Brazil last week after Justice Moraes thr3at3ned arrests for ignoring his orders to remove X accounts that he said broke Brazilian laws.
