By Ricardo Brito and Luana Maria Benedito

BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Social media giant X said it expected Brazil's top court to order it to shut down late Thursday, as a pitched legal battle played out over compliance with local laws and owner Elon Musk's insistence the platform is being punished for resisting censorship.

The popular social media platform posted the announcement from its global affairs account, saying it expected Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes to order the shutdown "soon," moments after a court-imposed deadline passed.

Earlier on Thursday, the Supreme Court blocked the local bank accounts of billionaire Musk's Starlink satellite internet firm, in which he owns a 40% stake, while the underlying feud over X put it on the brink of being shuttered in one of its top markets.

The two firms are part of Musk's sprawling business empire which also includes rocket company SpaceX and electric car giant Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). The billionaire is the owner of X and the CEO of Tesla.

Starlink had previously confirmed it received an order from the judge that prevents the company from conducting financial transactions in Brazil.

In a Thursday night post on X, Musk lashed out at Moraes, decrying the ruling to block Starlink as illegal and that it would "improperly" punish other shareholders as well as ordinary Brazilians.

Signed by Moraes, the court's decision to sanction Starlink is a response to the lack of legal representatives in Brazil for X, a Supreme Court source told Reuters.

The decision to freeze Starlink's bank accounts also stems from a separate dispute over unpaid fines that X was ordered to pay due to its failure to turn over some documents. Local newspaper Folha has reported the fines total at least 20 million reais ($3.6 million), but Reuters was not able to confirm the amount.

The Supreme Court had set a deadline for X to name its legal representative in Brazil by shortly after 8:00 p.m. (2300 GMT) on Thursday.

At issue in the intensifying dispute is whether Moraes can order X to block certain accounts accused of spreading lies and distortions, a request Musk has denounced as censorship.

Most of the accounts ordered blocked are run by backers of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, some of which deny he lost his 2022 reelection bid.

Brazilian law requires all internet companies to have a legal representative in the country who can receive judicial orders and otherwise be legally responsible for the business.

Late Wednesday, Moraes signed an order for X to name its legal representative or face suspension in the country.

In a previous post, Musk complained that Moraes "is an outright criminal of the worst kind, masquerading as a judge."

Starlink, in its own post, accused the judge of secretly issuing the order without due process.

JUDGE V. BILLIONAIRE

The cumulative digital and legal disputes could cause X to lose one of its largest and most coveted markets, at a time when Musk has struggled with advertising revenue for the platform.

Earlier this month, X announced it would close operations and fire its staff in Latin America's largest economy due to what it called "censorship orders" from Moraes, while keeping its service available for Brazilian users.

At the time, X claimed Moraes secretly threatened one of the company's legal representatives in Brazil with arrest if it did not comply with legal orders to take down some content.

In Wednesday's ruling, Moraes stressed that companies that do not respect local laws or the confidentiality of private information could have their activities temporarily suspended.

The Supreme Court posted a screen shot of Wednesday's court decision on its X account, tagging Musk's and X's global government affairs accounts.

Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts earlier this year implicated in investigations of so-called digital militias accused of spreading distortions and hate during Bolsonaro's term in office.

After Musk challenged that decision and said he would reactivate accounts on X that the judge had ordered blocked, Moraes opened an April inquiry into Musk's businesses.

X representatives eventually reversed course and told the Supreme Court the social media giant would obey the rulings. In April, however, Moraes asked X to explain why it had not fully complied with his decisions.

In response, X lawyers cited "operational faults" that had allowed users ordered blocked to stay active on the platform.

Many Brazilians took to X on Thursday to make light of the saga, including thousands who posted creative "memes" spotlighting the hard-charging judge and the billionaire.

Some X users criticized the ruling signed by Moraes, arguing he was undermining freedom of speech, while others sided with Moraes, insisting that Musk must comply with Brazilian law.

X, formerly known as Twitter, is widely used in Brazil, and is an important means of communication in particular for politicians.

($1 = 5.6286 reais)