Elon Musk's social media platform, X, finally cracked under the pressure of the Brazilian Supreme Court and took a series of measures aimed at lifting its ban in the country.
Concretely, the company appointed a legal representative in Brazil and blocked accounts that the justice spearheading the initiative, Alexandre de Moraes, accused of disseminating misinformation and seeking to undermine Brazilian democracy. It also paid fines imposed on it.
Alexandre de Moraes asked for additional documentation before lifting the ban on Saturday and gave the company five days to comply and legalize its presence in the country. It also asked a series of agencies to inquire into X's standing in Brazil, The Washington Post reported. There is no clear timeline for the restoring of the platform in the country.
The decision comes shortly after the Supreme Court announced the imposition of $1 million-a-day fines on X and Starlink after former partially went back online on Wednesday despite the ban.
While X said the move was inadvertent, some officials told the Financial Times that they believe it to be a technical maneuver to circumvent the ban. "While we expect the platform to be inaccessible again in Brazil soon, we continue efforts to work with the Brazilian government to return very soon for the people of Brazil," the company said in a statement.
Brazil's communications regulator Anatel also said the move was deliberate, and Justice de Moraes issued a summons notice to the company and demanded it suspends its activities again.
De Moraes had also been compelling Musk to appoint a legal representative following his decision to cease the company's operations in the country amid an ongoing feud over what constitutes acceptable freedom of speech in the platform. Musk repeatedly blasted de Moraes in the platform, accusing him of being a dictator and abusing his powers.
The conflict has been going on for years and began when the Brazilian Supreme Court took action against several accounts tied to the country's right-wing movement, particularly those linked to former president Jair Bolsonaro.
De Moraes ordered accounts be blocked for attempting to discredit the country's electoral system and process, part of Bolsonaro's effort to overturn the 2022 presidential elections he ultimately lost against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
X did not fully comply with the orders, leading the judge to intensify the pressure on the platform. It's likely the accounts have now been blocked after X complied with the high court's demands.
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