Musk's X suspended in Brazil after ruling by judge

A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has ordered the "immediate and complete suspension" of Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, in the country.

In a statement, Alexandre de Moraes said the social media platform will be banned until X complies with all court orders and pays existing fines.

Justice Moraes, who has been involved in a long-running row with X, had given the social media platform 24 hours to name a new legal representative or face suspension, with a deadline of Thursday evening.

The platform is expected to be unavailable in the country within the next 24 hours.

Justice Moraes has given companies such as Apple and Google a five-day deadline to remove X from its application stores.

People attempting to access the platform after the ban through VPNs could be fined R$50,000 (£6.7k), according to local media reports.

On Thursday, X said it expected to be blocked in Brazil after failing to meet a deadline to name a new legal representative for the company.

The social media network closed its office in the country earlier this month, saying its representative had been threatened with arrest if she did not comply with orders it described as "censorship".

The months-long row began with Justice Moraes in April ordering the suspension of dozens of X accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation.

X owner Elon Musk has threatened to reactivate the accounts, and has described Justice Moraes as a "tyrant" and a "dictator".