Brazilian Court places new hurdles on Elon Musk's X for reinstatement

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has outlined additional conditions for the reinstatement of Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, in Brazil. This ruling comes just a day after X asserted it had fulfilled the court’s previous requirements, including appointing a legal representative.

De Moraes stipulated that X can only resume operations once Starlink, Musk’s satellite internet service, withdraws its appeals related to the ongoing legal disputes. X has faced a blockade in Brazil for nearly a month amid a contentious standoff between Musk and de Moraes over critical issues such as free speech, far-right accounts, and misinformation.

Earlier this month, de Moraes ordered that Starlink’s assets be leveraged to cover X’s mounting fines, which have surpassed $3 million. He justified this action by asserting that both companies belong to the same economic group, a stance that has raised eyebrows among some legal experts.

Adding to the complexities, the court has imposed a new fine of 10 million Brazilian reais (approximately $1.84 million) on X, criticizing the platform for temporarily routing users through the third-party service Cloudflare. This maneuver briefly restored access to X in Brazil, an action the company defended as necessary to serve Latin American clients rather than an attempt to bypass the suspension.

While de Moraes accepted X’s newly appointed legal representative, he also fined her 300,000 reais ($55,000) for failing to comply with earlier court orders. The absence of a legal representative had originally led to X’s suspension on August 30.

The ongoing conflict traces back to earlier this year, when X came under scrutiny for hosting far-right content and misinformation. Musk and his supporters have accused the Brazilian judiciary of authoritarianism, with Musk labeling de Moraes as a proponent of censorship. Despite these claims, the judge’s rulings, including the nationwide suspension of X, have been consistently upheld by his colleagues.

On August 28, X announced the abrupt layoff of its remaining staff in Brazil, citing safety concerns for its legal representative, who had faced threats of arrest. However, the company recently reversed this decision and submitted documentation on Thursday, asserting compliance with all of the judge’s rulings in hopes of resuming operations in Brazil.

In a statement, X reaffirmed its commitment to “protecting free speech within the boundaries of the law” while acknowledging the sovereignty of the countries it operates in. The company added, “We believe that the people of Brazil having access to X is essential for a thriving democracy, and we will continue to defend freedom of expression and due process of law through legal processes.”