Brazil authorizes X to resume activities

(Boursier.com) — X is back in Brazil… The Brazilian Supreme Court on Tuesday authorized the microblogging platform, owned by Elon Musk, to resume its services in the country. This decision comes after the social network agreed to comply with legal demands, after months of resistance. The billionaire, who had previously denounced these measures as “censorship” and described judge Alexandre de Moraes as a “dictator”, finally blocked the accounts targeted by the court, appointed a local representative and paid the unpaid fines.

The Brazilian judge, who had strongly opposed the boss of Tesla and SpaceX in this standoff, affirmed that the company had now complied with all the conditions required to operate again in Brazil. It ordered telecommunications agency Anatel to restore the platform within 24 hours, although access had not yet been restored to users as of Tuesday evening.

For its part, the social network expressed its satisfaction through its Global Affairs account, assuring that it would “always defend freedom of expression” while respecting local legislation in each country where it operates. This dispute between X and Brazil is part of a series of tensions between Elon Musk and several governments, including those of Australia and the United Kingdom, which seek to limit the spread of disinformation.

A “victory for the country”

Brazil’s Communications Minister Juscelino Filho called X’s decision to pay the fines and comply with court rulings a “victory for the country.” “We have shown the world that our laws here must be respected, by anyone,” he said in a statement. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also lent his support to the decision, stressing that people with businesses in Brazil must respect local laws and that the world was “not obliged to support the far-right ideology of Musk just because he’s rich.”

X’s suspension was initially decided by Judge Alexandre de Moraes due to efforts to combat disinformation and protect democracy. The Supreme Court unanimously validated this decision, but left the door open to lifting the suspension if X complied with the orders.

As a reminder, X was suspended in Brazil, one of its most important markets with around 21.5 million users, since the end of August. During the social network’s lockdown, many users migrated to rival platforms such as Bluesky and Meta-owned Threads.