A top Supreme Court judge in Brazil labeled an "evil dictator" by Elon Musk has ordered the suspension of Musk's social media website X in a battle over free speech.
The dramatic crackdown from Justice Alexandre de Moraes comes after Musk refused the judge's demands to censor Brazilian accounts spreading alleged "disinformation."
De Moraes had previously threatened to jail X's legal representative for refusing to comply with his demands.
The judge's threats escalated Wednesday when he ordered X to appoint a new legal representative within 24 hours or face nationwide suspension.
“Alexandre de Moraes is an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge,” Musk wrote in response.
De Moraes made good on his threats Friday, giving internet service providers and app stores five days to block X. Users who try to avoid the ban using virtual private networks face fines of up to $8,900 a day.
"Elon Musk showed his total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the judiciary, setting himself up as a true supranational entity and immune to the laws of each country,” de Moraes wrote.
The shutdown could impact 40 million regular X users in Brazil, according to AP. The company had said it expected to be shut down "soon" for refusing to comply with de Moraes's "illegal" demands.
"We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States. The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that," the company added.
Separately, de Moraes suspended bank accounts used by another one of Musk's companies, the satellite internet provider StarLink, a subsidiary of SpaceX. Musk denounced the crackdown as an illegal act of retribution.
"SpaceX and X are two completely different companies with different shareholders. I own about 40% of SpaceX, so this absolutely illegal action by the dictator [de Moraes] improperly punishes other shareholders and the people of Brazil," Musk wrote.
Many of the X accounts de Moraes wants censored are tied to Brazil's political right and its former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing prosecution by the current leftist government headed by his rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Lula - whom Musk labeled the "lapdog" of "dictator" de Moraes - defended the actions taken against Musk.
"Just because a guy has a lot of money doesn't mean he can disrespect (the law)," Lula said.
