Brazil’s Communications Minister Juscelino Filho on Tuesday (Sep. 24) said the temporary return of the social network X in Brazil on September 18 is under investigation, in an attempt to ascertain whether it was intentional or the result of a technical problem.
“We’re investigating whether it was something they [social network X] caused, or whether it was a technical fault, so that we can be sure of the steps to be taken,” he stated.
In the event of deliberate non-compliance with the decision by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, he said, the Ministry of Communications may file a lawsuit to suspend the permission of Starlink—a high-speed satellite internet provider owned by billionaire Elon Musk, who also owns X—from operating in the country. Justice Moraes had ordered the suspension of the social network in Brazil.
“Depending on the probes, if there is any affront to non-compliance with a court decision or with Brazilian law, the necessary measures will be taken. One of them is the opening of a concession termination procedures,” said the minister at a press conference.
Suspension
On August 30, Brazil’s telecom watchdog Anatel notified all Brazilian internet service providers to comply with the ruling of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
On September 18, Justice Moraes ordered the social network to immediately block new accesses through the CDN, Cloudflare, Fastly and Edgeuno servers and others like them, created to circumvent the court decision to block the platform in Brazil, under penalty of a daily fine of BRL 5 million for X Brasil and Twitter.
Minister Filho pointed out that the platform has once again complied with the blockade. “We are monitoring the case and will always follow Brazilian legislation and comply with the court decisions that are appropriate in the case.”
