Elon Musk’s X receives approval to resume service in Brazil

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has been embroiled in a months-long feud with Musk, gave X the green light to resume operations in Latin America’s largest country with immediate effect.

In the decision, Moraes said that X had met all necessary requirements to resume operating in the country.

The platform formerly known as Twitter had been suspended since late August in Brazil, one of its largest and most coveted markets, after failing to comply with court orders regarding the moderation of hate speech and failing to appoint a legal representative. to name the country as required by law. .

Musk, who had branded the orders as censorship and called Moraes a “dictator,” began to change his position in recent weeks, with his social media network blocking court-flagged accounts, wiretapping a local representative and paying outstanding fines.

Moraes ruled in his decision on Tuesday that Brazilian telecommunications regulator Anatel must work to get X back online within 24 hours. Users in Brazil were still unable to access the platform as of 7 p.m. local time.

Through its Global Affairs account,

The dispute in Brazil was part of a series of recent confrontations between Musk, who sees himself as a champion of freedom of expression, and governments including Australia and the United Kingdom that are trying to prevent the spread of online disinformation.

Brazil’s Communications Minister said on Tuesday that X’s decision to pay the fines and comply with court orders was a “victory for the country.”

“We showed the world that our laws must be respected here, by anyone,” Juscelino Filho said in a statement.

Legal battle

X’s suspension initially came after an individual statement by Moraes, who led a local crusade against alleged attacks on democracy and the political use of disinformation.

His ruling was later unanimously backed by a five-member panel of the Supreme Court and its chief justice.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also expressed support for the move, saying that people with businesses in Brazil must follow local laws and that the world was “not obliged to put up with Musk’s far-right ideology just because he is rich.”

However, the judges indicated at the time that they would be open to reconsidering the suspension if X complied with the rulings. The social media company initially said it would not adhere to these rules because they were “illegal.”

Brazil is the sixth largest market for X globally and had approximately 21.5 million users in April, according to data platform Statista. During the suspension, many users migrated to competing platforms such as Bluesky-owned Threads and Meta Platforms.

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That ultimately led to the suspension, in a legal battle that also affected another prominent company controlled by Musk, satellite internet provider Starlink, whose accounts Moraes temporarily froze to cover fines imposed on X.

A new representative of X, lawyer Rachel de Oliveira Conceicao, was tapped in late September, when

Earlier this month, the company paid pending fines it had previously disdained, opening the door for reinstatement in the country.

The suspension left X out of commission in Brazil during the final month of the country’s municipal elections, which took place on Sunday.

However, in many cities, including Sao Paulo – Latin America’s largest city – mayoral elections will take place on October 27.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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