After months of resistance and mounting penalties, Elon Musk has decided to comply with legal orders in Brazil, marking an end to a prolonged standoff between his social media company X (formerly Twitter) and the country’s Supreme Court. This decision comes after fines amounting to millions and the platform’s temporary ban in Latin America’s largest economy.
In a judicial filing on Friday, X appointed a legal representative in Brazil, a move aimed at meeting the court’s requirements and potentially lifting the ban on the social media platform, which began on August 30. The platform had previously refused to comply with orders from Brazil’s Supreme Court to block certain accounts accused of spreading hate speech and fake news.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had given X five days to provide further information on its legal representation in Brazil, a deadline that prompted the company’s compliance. A law firm hired by X confirmed that “clarifications and information in response to Moraes’ order” were presented to the court late on Friday. X is now represented by Rachel de Oliveira Villa Nova Conceição in the country, as reported by CNN Brasil.
The legal battle between Musk and the Brazilian judiciary escalated earlier this year when Musk defied orders from Moraes to suspend accounts in Brazil, accusing the judge of censorship. In retaliation, Moraes opened a criminal inquiry into Musk, accusing him of spreading disinformation. Despite this, Musk had pledged in April to resist these judicial orders, arguing that they infringed on free speech.
However, pressure intensified in recent weeks. Moraes ordered X to restore its site block by September 19 or face daily fines of 5 million reais ($907,000). A brief disruption in X’s ban occurred when an automatic update temporarily restored access to Brazilian users, but this was swiftly addressed after X claimed the incident was due to a “network provider change.”
Brazil’s telecommunications regulator criticized X for its “deliberate intention to disregard the order of the Supreme Court” and warned that further attempts to evade the ban would result in additional penalties. Last week, the country withdrew 18.35 million reais from X and its associated satellite internet provider, Starlink, to pay for fines that had accumulated due to the company’s non-compliance with earlier court orders.
While X has now fulfilled some of the court’s demands, the future of its operations in Brazil remains uncertain. Moraes has instructed Brazil’s Federal Police and telecommunications watchdog to report within 48 hours on the status of access to X, after which the court will calculate potential further fines. Only after a thorough review will the Supreme Court decide if X can be fully reinstated in the country.
This legal clash highlights the tensions between global tech giants and national regulators as countries like Brazil take a hard stance on combating disinformation and regulating social media platforms. For Musk, the battle underscores the complex balance between his platform’s free speech ethos and the legal frameworks governing the countries in which it operates.
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