Musk's X ready to resume operations in Brazil after bowing to high court demands By Reuters
BRASILIA – The Supreme Court of Brazil allowed X to start operating in the country on Tuesday, after the social media site withdrew the process that began following court decisions that billionaire Elon Musk had vowed to reject.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who was locked in a months-long dispute with Musk, gave X the green light to resume operations in Latin America's largest country immediately.
In this decision, Moraes said that X met all the requirements to start working again in this country.
The platform formerly known as Twitter has been suspended in Brazil, one of its largest and most coveted markets, since late August after failing to comply with court orders related to the rehabilitation of hate speech and failing to appoint a legal representative in the country, as required by law. .
Musk, who had criticized the orders as blocking people and called Moraes a “dictator,” began to reverse his position in recent weeks, when his social network blocked accounts flagged by the court, contacted a local representative and paid pending fines.
Moraes, in his decision on Tuesday, ruled that Brazil's telecommunications regulator Anatel must act to allow X to come back online within 24 hours. Users in Brazil were still unable to access the platform as of 7pm local time.
Through his Global Affairs account, X said he was proud to return to Brazil, adding that he would “continue to defend freedom of expression, within the limits of the law” in the countries where he works.
The Brazil dispute was one of the latest in a series of clashes between Musk, who sees himself as a champion of free speech, and governments including Australia and the United Kingdom that want to curb the spread of misinformation online.
Brazil's communications minister said Tuesday that X's decision to pay fines and comply with court orders was “a victory for the country.”
“We have shown the world that here our laws must be respected, no matter who they are,” said Juscelino Filho in a statement.
THE WAR OF PAIN
The suspension of X began after the personal decision of Moraes, who led the local fight against the perceived attack on democracy and the political use of disinformation.
His decision was later unanimously supported by a panel of five members of the Supreme Court and its chief justice.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also expressed his support for this move, saying that people who have businesses in Brazil must follow local laws and the world “is not forced to tolerate Musk's far-reaching views just because he is rich.”
However, the judges signaled at the time that they would be open to reconsidering the suspension if X complied with the rulings. This communication company initially said that it will not follow that because it is “illegal”.
Brazil is the sixth largest market in the world and as of April had about 21.5 million users, according to data platform Statista. During the suspension, many users migrated to competing platforms such as Bluesky and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: )-owned Threads.
UX had legal representation in Brazil until mid-August, when it decided to close its offices in the country due to court orders, which it called “search orders,” without naming the person who will take over the company's legal obligations in the area.
That eventually led to a suspension, in a court battle that also affected another prominent business controlled by Musk, the satellite Internet provider Starlink, whose accounts Moraes temporarily suspended to pay the fine imposed on X.
X's new representative, lawyer Rachel de Oliveira Conceicao, was found in late September, when X also said she had begun blocking the accounts ordered by the court.
Earlier this month, the company paid the pending fines it had previously waived, opening the door to reinstatement.
With the suspension, X remains out of work in Brazil in the last month of the country's municipal elections, which take place on Sunday.
In many cities, however, including Sao Paulo – Latin America's largest city – mayoral elections will go into run-offs on Oct. 27.
