Sao Paulo. Brazil began blocking Elon Musk's social media platform X early Saturday, rendering it largely inaccessible on the web and mobile apps after Musk failed to appoint a legal representative in the country.

This action escalates a months-long dispute between Musk and Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes over issues of free speech, far-right accounts, and misinformation. De Moraes ordered the suspension on Friday.

To enforce the block, Brazil's telecommunications regulator, Anatel, instructed internet service providers to suspend access to X. By early Saturday morning local time, major operators had started implementing the suspension.

The company has lacked a legal representative in Brazil since earlier this month. Brazilian law requires foreign companies operating in the country to have local representation to ensure they can be notified of legal decisions and take necessary actions.

De Moraes had warned Musk on Wednesday night that X could be shut down in Brazil if he did not comply with the order to appoint a representative, setting a 24-hour deadline. Musk has responded with insults and accusations of authoritarianism, and de Moraes has stated that the platform will remain blocked until it complies.

"Elon Musk showed total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the judiciary, positioning himself as a supranational entity immune to the laws of any country," de Moraes wrote in his decision.

The justice gave internet service providers and app stores five days to block access to X and ordered that the platform remain suspended until it complies with his directives. The same deadline applies to app stores for removing virtual private networks (VPNs), with a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for those using VPNs to access X.

Brazil is a significant market for X, which has struggled with advertiser losses since Musk acquired the platform formerly known as Twitter in 2022. According to market research group Emarketer, approximately 40 million Brazilians, or about one-fifth of the population, use X at least once a month.

X had indicated on its Global Government Affairs page late Thursday that it anticipated the shutdown due to de Moraes' "illegal orders to censor his political opponents."

"When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after her resignation, he froze all her bank accounts," the company stated. "Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes' colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him."

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