X Names Brazil Legal Representative as It Fights Ban in the Country

A view of a laptop shows the Twitter sign-in page with their logo, in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)
A view of a laptop shows the Twitter sign-in page with their logo, in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)
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X Names Brazil Legal Representative as It Fights Ban in the Country

A view of a laptop shows the Twitter sign-in page with their logo, in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)
A view of a laptop shows the Twitter sign-in page with their logo, in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)

Elon Musk-owned social media platform X has named a legal representative in Brazil, the firm's lawyers said on Friday, in a move that would address one of the demands imposed by Brazil's top court to allow the company to operate in the country.

Andre Zonaro and Sergio Rosenthal, who were recently appointed as X's lawyers in Brazil, told Reuters that colleague Rachel de Oliveira Conceicao was chosen as the firm's legal representative, and that they had submitted her name to the Supreme Court.

Brazilian law requires foreign companies to name a legal representative to operate in the country. The representative would assume the legal responsibilities for the firm locally.

X had a legal representative in Brazil until mid-August, when it decided to close its offices in the country.

In late August, Brazil's top court ordered mobile and internet service providers to block X in the nation, and users were cut off within hours after X did not name a new legal representative.

The move followed a months-long dispute between Musk and Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes over the firm's non-compliance with court orders demanding the platform take action against the spread of hate speech.

Courts have previously blocked accounts implicated in probes of spreading misinformation and hate, which Musk has denounced as censorship.

On Thursday, the lawyers representing X in Brazil said the firm was starting to comply with orders on removing content, another demand from the top court.



Volkswagen Workers to Go on Warning Strikes Across Germany

The Volkswagen logo is displayed on the Volkswagen power plant on the day when Volkswagen AG and the industrial union IG Metall started talks over a new labor agreement for six of its German plants, in Wolfsburg, Germany, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
The Volkswagen logo is displayed on the Volkswagen power plant on the day when Volkswagen AG and the industrial union IG Metall started talks over a new labor agreement for six of its German plants, in Wolfsburg, Germany, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
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Volkswagen Workers to Go on Warning Strikes Across Germany

The Volkswagen logo is displayed on the Volkswagen power plant on the day when Volkswagen AG and the industrial union IG Metall started talks over a new labor agreement for six of its German plants, in Wolfsburg, Germany, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
The Volkswagen logo is displayed on the Volkswagen power plant on the day when Volkswagen AG and the industrial union IG Metall started talks over a new labor agreement for six of its German plants, in Wolfsburg, Germany, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo

Volkswagen workers will go on warning strikes on Monday at plants across Germany, labor union IG Metall said, marking the first large-scale walkouts at Volkswagen's domestic operations since 2018.

The start of the strikes represents a further escalation of a dispute between Europe's top carmaker and its workers over mass layoffs, pay cuts and possible plant closures - drastic measures the company says it cannot rule out in the face of Chinese competition and cooling consumer demand.

Labor representatives at VW had on Nov. 22 voted for limited strikes at German operations from early December after talks over wages and plant closures failed to achieve a breakthrough, Reuters reported.

"If necessary, this will be the toughest collective bargaining battle Volkswagen has ever seen," IG Metall negotiator Thorsten Groeger said in a statement.

The carmaker said it continues to rely on constructive dialogue to find a sustainable solution.

"Volkswagen respects the right of employees to take part in a warning strike," a spokesperson said in reply to the union's announcement, adding that the company had taken steps in advance to ensure a basic level of supplies to customers and minimise the impact of the strike.

Warning strikes in Germany usually last from a few hours.

The union had last week proposed measures it said would save 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion), including forgoing bonuses for 2025 and 2026, which Europe's top carmaker dismissed.

Volkswagen has demanded a 10% wage cut, arguing it needs to slash costs and boost profit to defend market share in the face of cheap competition from China and a drop in European car demand.

The company is threatening to close plants in Germany for the first time in its 87-year history.

"Volkswagen has set fire to our collective agreements and instead of extinguishing this fire in three collective bargaining sessions, the management board is throwing open barrels of petrol into it," Groeger said.

An agreement not to stage walkouts had ended on Saturday, IG Metall said, enabling workers to carry out warning strikes from Sunday across VW AG's German plants.

"Warning strikes will start at all plants from Monday. How long and how intensive this confrontation needs to be is Volkswagen's responsibility at the negotiating table," Groeger said.

Labor representatives and management will meet again on Dec. 9 to carry on negotiations over a new labor agreement for workers at the German business - VW AG - with unions vowing to resist any proposals that do not provide a long-term plan for every VW plant.