Platform X said it expected to be blocked in Brazil after it failed to meet a deadline to appoint a new legal representative for the company.
The social media network closed its office in the country earlier this month, saying company representatives were threatened with arrest if they did not comply with orders it described as “censorship.”
The months-long dispute began when Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of dozens of X accounts in April for allegedly spreading misinformation.
X owner Elon Musk threatened to reactivate the accounts and described Moraes as a “tyrant” and a “dictator”.
Judge Moraes gave X 24 hours to appoint a new legal representative or face suspension, with the deadline set for Thursday after 20:00 local time, reports the BBC.
The order stated that the ban would remain in effect until X appointed legal representation in the country and paid fines for alleged violations of Brazilian law.
But in a post from one of his official accounts shortly after the deadline, X made it clear that he had not complied with the order.
“Soon we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes to order X to be banned in Brazil, simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents,” the post reads.
X’s statement goes on to say that the main problem is that Judge de Moraes is demanding that the laws of Brazil be broken and that he simply won’t do it.
They also said they would not comply with “secretly illegal orders”, adding that they would publish the judge’s requests in the coming days “in the interest of transparency”.
