Brasilia [Brazil], August 31: Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Federal Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal or STF) of Brazil on Friday ordered the immediate and complete suspension of the operation of X, formerly Twitter, throughout the national territory.
According to the decision, made in Petition (PET) 12404, the president of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), Carlos Manuel Baigorri, must take all necessary measures to ensure the suspension.
The rapporteur also ordered Apple and Google to take steps to block the use of the application by iOS and Android systems, in addition to removing it from their virtual stores, the decision added.
According to Moraes, the STF made every possible effort and granted every opportunity for X Brasil to comply with the court orders and pay the fines, which would avoid the adoption of this more serious measure.
“Unfortunately, the illicit conduct was repeated in the current investigation, making it clear that X Brasil failed to comply with several court orders, as well as the willful intention of exempting itself from responsibility for complying with the court orders issued, with the disappearance of its legal representatives in Brazil for the purposes of subpoena and, subsequently, with the aforementioned message about the possible closure of the Brazilian company,” he stated.
The decision also sets a daily fine of BRL 50,000 for individuals and companies that use “technological subterfuges” to maintain the use of X, without prejudice to other sanctions in the civil and criminal spheres.
