Brazil judge orders X to reimpose block or face hefty fine

BRASILIA: Brazil´s Supreme Court on Thursday ordered Elon Musk´s X to suspend access to the social network, after service was restored despite a ban, or face a daily fine of over $900,000.

The former Twitter was banned last month in Latin America´s largest nation, but access to the phone app returned on Wednesday in what the government slammed as a deliberate violation of the suspension order.

X said the return of its service was “inadvertent and temporary.”

Judge Alexandre de Moraes said in a court order that a “recalcitrant” X had “unlawfully, persistently and intentionally” failed to respect judicial orders, and would face a daily fine of 5 million reais ($913,000 USD) until it again suspends its service.

Moraes also ordered state telecommunications agency Anatel to take all necessary measures to once again block access to the social network.