Top court justice orders X to end new blockade circumvention
On Wednesday (Sep. 18), Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered social network X to immediately suspend new accesses through CDN, Cloudflare, Fastly, Edgeuno, and other similar servers created to circumvent the court ruling to block the platform in Brazil, under penalty of a daily fine of BRL 5 million.
The decision to maintain the suspension of the social network comes after Brazil’s telecom authority Anatel notified the company on Wednesday of the maneuver that updated the X app, which took place in the last 24 hours, allowing users to have access to the platform’s services in the country, circumventing the blockade.
“There is no doubt therefore that platform X—under the direct command of Elon Musk—once again intends to disrespect the Brazilian Judiciary, as Anatel uncovered the strategy used to disobey the court order issued in the case, including the suggestion of the measures to be adopted to maintain the suspension,” Justice Alexandre de Moraes wrote in the decision.
In addition, he ordered Anatel to immediately adopt all the necessary measures to maintain the suspension of the operation of X Brasil in national territory. The authority must also suspend new accesses through the identified internet servers.
In his decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes set a deadline of 24 hours for Anatel to inform the Supreme Court what measures have been adopted and what measures have been implemented to comply with the decision to block X in the country.
The justice also issued a subpoena to Twitter International Unlimited Company and X Brasil Internet, since X has closed down its activities in Brazil and currently has no legal representation in the country. Starlink Brazil, a technology company also owned by billionaire Elon Musk, was also subpoenaed.
Disrespect
In a press release, Anatel says that the accessibility of users to the X network is in breach of the court ruling and clarifies it had the active support of telecommunications providers and company Cloudfare in identifying the mechanism that allowed the platform to be unblocked. The watchdog also reported on possible measures that could be adopted to fix the issue.
“The conduct of network X demonstrates a deliberate intention to disobey the order of the Suprme Court. Any new attempts to circumvent the blockade will merit the appropriate measures from the Agency,” Anatel’s note reads.
X has been blocked in Brazil since the end of August, following a decision by Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The suspension is valid until the network pays fines and appoints a legal representative in the country.
