The Supreme Court in Brazil has rejected the immediate lifting of the ban on short messaging platform X. Federal judge Alexandre de Moraes said tech billionaire Elon Musk’s company can resume its activities in Brazil only if it pays several fines, including one of ten million reais (1.65 million euros).
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This fine was imposed because X did not respect the two-day closure ordered by the court. Some users in Brazil were able to access the platform despite a nationwide ban.
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The company had earlier requested that the ban be lifted after the online service’s lawyers handed over all requested documents. In accordance with the request, X appointed a legal representative for Brazil and blocked the profiles of nine users who are being investigated by the Supreme Federal Court (STF). In addition, an additional fine of 18.35 million reais (2.98 million euros) was charged from the bank accounts of Musk’s companies X and Starlink.
The federal judge’s ruling said both companies must still give their consent to the transfer and exhaust all legal remedies. In addition, the company’s appointed legal representative had to pay a fine of 300,000 reais (just under 50,000 euros).
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Federal judge Moraes ordered the shutdown of X in the South American country in late August. The news platform was earlier allowed to pass the court-imposed deadline to appoint a legal representative. The company also refused to block the accounts of right-wing activists who spread conspiracy stories and misinformation.
Musk, who has been a key supporter of former Republican President Donald Trump in the US election campaign for some time, has always presented himself as a defender of free speech. He accused Moraes of attacking freedom of expression and described him as an “evil dictator”. A federal judge had started an investigation against Musk in April for obstruction of justice and incitement to crime.
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