Brazil’s Supreme Court declared on Friday that social network X must still pay just over $5 million in outstanding fines, including a fresh one, before it can start operating again in the nation, according to a court document.
TakeAway Points:
- Per a court document, Brazil’s Supreme Court declared on Friday that social network X would not be permitted to reopen for business in the nation until it has paid just over $5 million in outstanding fines, including a new one.
- The Elon Musk-owned U.S. firm told the court it had complied with orders to stop the spread of misinformation and asked it to lift a ban on the platform.
- According to two persons familiar with the matter, Elon Musk’s social networking platform X will submit the paperwork that the Brazilian Supreme Court has required by this Monday in order to request that service be reinstated in the nation.
Brazil court impose one more fine on X
Earlier this week, the Elon Musk-owned U.S. firm told the court it had complied with orders to stop the spread of misinformation and asked it to lift a ban on the platform.
But Judge Alexandre de Moraes responded on Friday with a ruling that X and its legal representative in Brazil must still agree to pay a total of 18.3 million reais ($3.4 million) in pending fines that were previously ordered by the court.
In his decision, the judge said that the court can use resources already frozen from X and Starlink accounts in Brazil, but to do so the satellite company, also owned by Musk, had to drop its pending appeal against the fund blockage.
The judge also demanded a new 10 million reais ($1.8 million) fine related to a brief period of time last week when X became available again for some users in Brazil.
According to a person close to X, the tech firm will likely pay all the fines, but will consider challenging the extra 10 million reais that was imposed by the court after the platform ban.
X has been suspended since late August in Brazil, one of its largest and most coveted markets, after Moraes ruled it had failed to comply with orders related to restricting hate speech and naming a local legal representative.
Musk, who had denounced the orders as censorship and called Moraes a “dictator,” backed down and started to reverse his position last week when X lawyers said the platform tapped a local representative and would comply with court rulings.
In Friday’s decision, Moraes said that X had proved it had now blocked accounts as ordered by the court, and also named the required legal representative in Brazil.
X requests restoration of service in Brazil
Elon Musk’s social media platform X will file documents requested by Brazil’s Supreme Court and ask by this Monday that service be restored in the country, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Access to the platform formerly known as Twitter has been blocked in Brazil since the end of August, following an order by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The judge and the U.S. tech firm have been at loggerheads over his investigation of “digital militias” he has accused of spreading hate messages in Brazil.
The dispute led X to close its offices in the country and let go of employees including its legal agent, breaching a local law.
The platform may again be available to Brazilians as early as next week after X provides documents requested by the court proving it now has a legal representative in the country, said the sources familiar with X’s plans.
Last week, X lawyers said the company had appointed a legal representative in Brazil, as ordered by the Supreme Court, but it did not initially provide documents to prove the appointee was formally able to respond for the company. Once the new set of documents have been sent, the firm expects the issue to be resolved, according to the sources.
The sources said X has also started to comply with the court’s other demands—blocking profiles of people allegedly spreading fake news and paying a 18 million reais ($3 million) fine via accounts of Musk’s Starlink.
The social media firm is keen to smooth over the relationship with Moraes and operate like any other tech company in the country, said one of the sources.
