X is closing Operations in Brazil
In April, billionaire Musk clashed with Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes over his social media platform X. The two sides at one point stomped on each other on the Internet, with one threatening to fine X every day and the other shouting that the other should resign in shame.
The incident began when the Brazilian Supreme Court asked X to ban some popular accounts to combat hate speech and disinformation, but Musk insisted he would not comply. Moraes then said it would launch an investigation into Musk for obstructing justice in Brazil and for Musk’s use of X as a criminal tool.
Final Decisions: X is closing Operations in Brazil
And the latest development in the story is that X has announced that it will shut down its operations in Brazil, but will maintain its services. Musk himself regretted that it was an extremely difficult decision for X to close its Brazilian office.
For its part, X’s Global Government Affairs department has stated that Moraes threatened X’s legal entities in Brazil, saying that they would be arrested if they did not comply with his censorship orders. In order to protect the safety of X’s Brazilian employees, X will immediately shut down its operations in Brazil.
X had about 20 million active users in Brazil as of the first quarter, down 15 percent from the previous year, according to data firm Sensor Tower. It’s unclear whether shutting down the Brazilian operations will be a major blow to X’s finances.
And outside of Brazil, X and Musk are facing tighter regulation in a number of countries. Most recently, Musk and X have been accused of indulging in the spread of fake news because of the riots in the U.K., and a number of U.K. officials have withdrawn from the X platform as a result.
Earlier in February, X had a dispute with the Indian government over posts related to farmers’ protests, which ended with X deleting all accounts and posts that the Indian government had asked to be blocked.
Last year, X was also fined by Australian authorities for violating e-safety regulations. In addition, X has been the subject of an investigation by the European Union, primarily for allegedly inciting hate speech and disseminating harmful content about child exploitation.
The closure of the Brazilian business is a harsh blow to X’s speech policy, and if Musk and X choose to continue to “fight” with governments, X’s Waterloo in Brazil could turn into the harbinger of an avalanche.
Read More:
Google’s Antitrust: Losing Android Lead to a Major Market Shift?
