X is back in Brazil, after it caved and paid a hefty $5 million fine, and blocked accounts accused of spreading misinformation! Here is what you need to know…
Elon Musk fight with Brazil over X ban : A quick primer!
The brouhaha between Elon Musk and Brazil started when Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) to remove over 100 accounts that were allegedly spreading misinformation and questioning the legitimacy of President President Lula da Silva’s 2022 election victory.
Musk, who has often claimed to be a staunch advocacy of free speech, publicly opposed these directives, labeling them an infringement on individual rights. His vocal criticisms of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes escalated the situation, leading to heightened scrutiny of X’s operations in Brazil.
In a surprising move, Musk chose to close X offices in Brazil in mid-August, leaving the platform without a legal representative in the country — an essential requirement for operating legally. This led to Justice Moraes ordering internet and mobile service providers in Brazil to block access to X, a significant blow to the platform’s user base in the region.
Elon Musk also publicly mocked Justice Moraes, claiming that the judge has “repeatedly broken the laws he has sworn to uphold“, while sharing a post celebrating X as the top news app on Apple’s App Store in Brazil, stating, “People want to know the truth.”
Last week, X mysteriously reappeared in Brazil after a software update that it claimed resulted in an “inadvertent and temporary service restoration to Brazilian users”. But Justice Moraes called it “wilful, illegal and persistent”, and levied a R$5 million fine (~US$921,000) on X, adding to R$18.3 million (~US$3.37 million) fine that had already been imposed.
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X back in Brazil after paying $5M fine and blocking accounts!
However, just three weeks after defying Brazil’s court orders, Elon Musk and X gave up its fight, and agreed to comply with Brazilian court orders to restore access.
This compliance included appointing a legal representative in Brazil and removing the user accounts that the court deemed threats to democracy. X also paid fines totalling 28.6 million reais ($5.1 million / £3.9 million), as part of the resolution.
On 8 October 2024, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said that X had met all the necessary requirements to operate again in Brazil, and ordered the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to restore service within 24 hours.
X said that it was proud to return to Brazil, and added that it “will continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law”.
Brazilian Minister of Communications Juscelino Filho labelled it as a “victory for the country“, and stated that “We showed the world that here, our laws should be respected, by whomever it may be“.
Brazil is the sixth biggest market for X globally, with about 21.5 million users according to Statista. However, many of its users migrated to rival platforms like Bluesy and Threads (which is owned by Meta), and it is unknown if they will all return to X.
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