In a dramatic escalation of tensions, Brazil’s Supreme Court has announced hefty fines of up to $8,874 per day for anyone using a VPN to access X, formerly Twitter, within the country. This move has sparked a furious response from Elon Musk, who labelled the Brazilian leadership an “oppressive regime” on X.

The court’s decision comes after a series of clashes between X and Brazilian authorities. Earlier this week, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes threatened to block X in Brazil if a legal representative wasn’t appointed within 24 hours.

This ultimatum was followed through with the ban, which will remain in effect until X appoints a new legal representative and pays outstanding fines for alleged violations of Brazilian law.

The ongoing feud between X and Brazil’s leadership has been brewing for months. In August, X shut down its Brazilian representative office after De Moraes threatened to prosecute local representatives for refusing to comply with orders to block users.

“The oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries,” Musk wrote on X.

Prior to this, the Supreme Court had ordered the blocking of numerous X accounts as part of Brazil’s campaign against online misinformation targeting the government.

In April, Musk openly defied a court order to ban certain accounts, criticizing Brazil’s “aggressive censorship.” This prompted Brazil’s attorney general to advocate for stricter regulation of social media platforms.