Elon Musk, the CEO of X, the microblogging platform, has announced that the company will shut down its operations in Brazil due to a prolonged legal battle with the Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes.
He said that despite the closure, the platform will remain accessible to users from South America.
The dispute concerns de Moraesâ efforts to fight misinformation, which has led to a legal tussle against the platform.
According to reports, Xâs Global Government Affairs department accused the Supreme Court Judge of threatening their legal representatives with arrests if the company did not comply with censorship orders.
The firm stated that the office closure was necessary to ensure staff safety and blamed de Moraes for the situation.
Reports say Brazilian Secretary of Digital Policies Joao Brant criticised the social media platformâs decision, warning that it could lead to a potential blocking from the country.
The Supreme Court Judge previously ordered the suspension of several accounts linked to misinformation about the 2022 presidential election.
Musk said complying with the judgeâs demands would compromise the platformâs principles.
The wealthiest man stated that while closure will affect revenue, principles are more important than profit.
The development mirrors the threat by the instant messaging platform WhatsApp to exit Nigeria following a fine of $220 million slammed on it by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
The FCCPC said the platform harvested the data of Nigerian users without their authorisation.
In response, WhatsApp said it may leave the country as it cannot afford the fine imposed by the FCCPC.
The commission called WhatsAppâs threats diversionary and insisted it breached Nigeriaâs data protection laws.
The development comes amid Elon Muskâs satellite internet company plans to establish ground stations across Nigeria to enhance connectivity.
Reports say the project will span 29,000 acres of land in three Nigerian states.
The stations will be located in Port Harcourt, Lagos, and Ogun.
Per the report, the satellite internet firm is partnering with Equinix, a leading data centre solutions provider, to build the ground stations.
Equinix entered Nigeria in 2022 after acquiring MainOne at $320 million.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has recorded a significant surge in wealth, amassing an amount equal to the combined estimated wealth of Mike Adenuga and Abdulsamad Rabiu, two of Nigeria’s wealthiest men.
