Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) will now have to pay an additional fine to lift the ban and resume its services in Brazil, according to a report.
Citing a court filing with Brazil’s Supreme Court, Bloomberg reported that Brazil’s Supreme Court Judge, Alexandre de Moraes stated that Elon Musk’s X could immediately return to its activities in national territory if it pays a fine of 10 million reais which is around $1.9 million.
Notably, this will be an additional fine as earlier Musk-owned company had already been fined 18.3 million reais ($3.4 million). Brazil also froze the accounts belonging to X and Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink to pay the fine.
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To recall, X (formerly Twitter) was banned in Brazil on August 30 for not complying with an order by Supreme Court judge Moraes in April to remove block accounts that were accused of spreading election-related misinformation and hate. Musk, however, accused Moraes of censorship, refused to agree, and stated Moraes should resign or be impeached.
Later, in a surprising turn of events, X accepted the demands of the Supreme Court’s judge to block the designated accounts, pay the required fines, and appoint a legal representative in Brazil.
Taking to X, the platform’s Global Government Affairs account has acknowledged its acquiescence in a post on Thursday, stating, “We recognise and respect the sovereignty of the countries in which we operate; however, providing access to Brazilian users is essential to a thriving democracy.
While Brazil is one of the most important markets for X with more than 20 million users countrywide, the recent blackout resulted in shifting many users towards X’s rival platforms such as Bluesky and Meta-owned Threads.