Moraes ordered Anatel to implement the suspension order, and to confirm to the court within 24 hours that it had carried it out.

Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, which has struggled with the loss of advertisers since Musk purchased the former Twitter in 2022. Market research group Emarketer says some 40 million Brazilians, roughly one-fifth of the population, access X at least once per month.

“This is a sad day for X users around the world, especially those in Brazil, who are being denied access to our platform. I wish it did not have to come to this – it breaks my heart,” X chief executive Linda Yaccarino said, adding that Brazil was failing to uphold its Constitution’s pledge to forbid censorship.

X had posted on its official Global Government Affairs page late on Thursday that it expected X to be shut down by de Moraes, “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents”.

“When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts,” the company wrote.

X has clashed with Moraes over its reluctance to comply with orders to block users.

Earlier this year, Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts implicated in probes of so-called digital militias accused of spreading distorted news and hate.

Musk, denouncing the order as censorship, responded by closing the platform’s offices in Brazil. X, formerly known as Twitter, said at the time that its services would still be available in Brazil.

Amid the underlying feud over X, Brazil’s Supreme Court also blocked the local bank accounts of the Starlink satellite internet firm, which is 40 per cent owned by Musk, leading the company on Friday to ask the court to suspend that decision.

AP, Reuters