The Supreme Court orders the lifting of the suspension of social network

X is back in Brazil. Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered, Tuesday October 8, the lifting “immediate” of the suspension of the social network, considering that the platform had finally responded to the demands he had asked of it. The judge of the Supreme Court of Brazil decided to block X more than a month ago in the name of fighting disinformation.

The telecommunications regulatory agency, Anatel, has twenty-four hours to restore access to the platform to the 22 million users in the largest country in Latin America.

X ultimately agreed to pay fines totaling 28.6 million reais (around 4.8 million euros) and to delete accounts suspected of disseminating false information. The former Twitter also had to appoint a new legal representative in Brazil. So many conditions that Judge Morales had set so that the service could resume.

First refusing to answer it, Elon Musk announced the closure of X’s Brazilian offices on August 17, while keeping the platform in service. Judge Moraes suspended the network on August 30, finding that X had ignored orders to block accounts suspected of disinformation, mostly linked to the Brazilian far right, and belonging to bloggers, entrepreneurs, journalists or former parliamentarians.

Brazilian users, however, had access to the platform again on September 18, due to a technical maneuver which made it possible to circumvent the blockage. X explained that this restoration of his service was an effect “unintentional” a change of server. But Judge Moraes refuted this argument and imposed new fines. According to him, “was recalcitrant, illicitly, persistently and with the intention of not respecting judicial orders”. The next day, the platform became inaccessible again in Brazil.

A threat to democracy

Since then, X has shown itself willing to fulfill the demands of the Supreme Court, burying the hatchet after several months of standoff between Elon Musk and Judge Moraes. The billionaire had repeatedly accused the magistrate of « censure ». He called it “dictator” and compared him to Voldemort, the villain of the Harry Potter saga.

Judge Moraes has long been inflexible, believing that X constituted a threat to democracy by promoting disinformation. A vision shared by left-wing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

At the end of September, during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly, the latter affirmed that the State should not “not be intimidated by individuals, companies or digital platforms who believe they are above the law”.

His far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) has continued to support Mr. Musk, calling out « censure ».

Brazil is an ultra-connected country, with more than one smartphone per capita. After the suspension, some of X’s users turned to competitors, Threads or Bluesky, but these platforms had not managed to fully establish themselves as natural replacements for the old Twitter.