The Federal Supreme Court (STF) in Brazil suspends Elon Musk’s social network after it fails to comply with orders from Minister Alexandre de Moraes to block accounts of those being investigated by the Brazilian justice system.
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Elon Musk’s X is getting back up and running in Brazil after a months-long standoff between the company and the country’s federal supreme court minister, Alexandre de Moraes.
“X is proud to return to Brazil,” the company wrote in a post on X from its global government affairs account. “Giving tens of millions of Brazilians access to our indispensable platform was paramount throughout this entire process. We will continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law, everywhere we operate.”
X was suspended in Brazil on Aug. 31, after an order from de Moraes that was upheld by a panel of other justices.
Brazil’s supreme court, known as Supremo Tribuno Federal, said in a statement on Tuesday that, “The company complied with the conditions stipulated by the rapporteur, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, and the platform may once again be used by Brazilians.”
The suspension was put in place because Musk, who owns X and runs it as technology chief, defied requests by Brazil’s court to ban some user accounts or remove content that the court said violated federal laws.
Brazil’s strict internet regulations are intended to limit the spread of hate speech, incitements to violence, and political misinformation or content harmful to democratic institutions online. The country also requires tech platforms to employ a legal representative in Brazil.
Rather than comply, Musk initially closed X’s headquarters in Brazil, and said he wouldn’t employ a legal representative there for a time. Musk spent months disparaging de Moraes, comparing him to movie villain Voldemort, calling him a “fake” judge and describing “the evil tyranny of Moraes.”
Brazil’s Correio Brazilenese reported that X was pressured by investors in Musk-led companies, to relent and comply with Brazilian law by late September as the company faced a threat of daily fines.
At one point, the court moved to freeze X’s business accounts in Brazil, along with those of SpaceX-owned Starlink, a satellite internet service provider in the country.
During X’s suspension, competitors including Bluesky and Threads gained millions of users in Brazil, according to SimilarWeb data. G1 Globo news reported that users were regaining access to X on Tuesday after the court authorization.
