Elon Musk’s X (formerly known as Twitter) may soon return to Brazilian territory, but only if it’s willing to pay up. According to a new ruling from Brazil's Supreme Court, the social media platform can resume operations in the country if it pays an additional fine of 10 million reais (around $1.9 million). This new penalty comes on top of the 18.3 million reais ($3.4 million) fine the company was already slapped with earlier this year.
The legal battle stems from X’s refusal to comply with a court order to block accounts accused of spreading election-related misinformation. Brazil froze accounts belonging to X and Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink, to enforce payment of the original fines. However, for operations to fully resume, Starlink needs to drop its appeal against these payments.
X’s troubles in Brazil date back to earlier this year when it resisted orders from Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes to block certain users. Musk even suggested that Moraes should resign or face impeachment. This led to X halting its services in Brazil and being banned from the country in late August, a move that caused rival platforms like Bluesky to see a rise in users.
Despite this, X appeared to reverse its stance recently by agreeing to block the requested accounts, pay the fines, and assign a legal representative in Brazil. The additional fine comes after X reportedly resumed service in the country earlier this month, which the company attributed to an infrastructure switch to Cloudflare, labeling it a "coincidence."
In a post from X’s Global Government Affairs account, the company acknowledged its cooperation, stating, “We recognize and respect the sovereignty of the countries in which we operate,” and emphasized that allowing access to Brazilian users is crucial to fostering democracy.
With these developments, X’s future in Brazil hinges on whether it decides to settle the fines and fully comply with local regulations, allowing it to re-enter a critical market amidst a backdrop of fierce competition.
