Brazil top court judges to vote on ban of Musk’s X

There are 11 justices in Brazil’s Supreme Court, which is split into two chambers of five members each, excluding the chief justice. The chambers can vote on whether to uphold or reject rulings by any one of its judges.

Justice Moraes is a member of the first chamber that will be reviewing his decision to ban X.

Reacting to the decision to ban X, Mr Musk said: “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes.”

In his ruling, Justice Moraes gave companies, including Apple and Google, a five-day deadline to remove X from its app stores and block its use on iOS and Android devices.

He added that individuals or businesses that are found to still be accessing X by using virtual private networks (VPNs) could be fined R$50,000 (£6,700).

X closed its office in Brazil last month, saying its representative had been threatened with arrest if she did not comply with orders it described as “censorship”, which it described as illegal under Brazilian law.

Justice Moraes had ordered that X accounts accused of spreading disinformation – many of which were supporters of the former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro – must be blocked while they are under investigation.

Brazil is said to be one of the largest markets for Mr Musk’s social media network.