The Federal Supreme Court (STF) in Brazil suspended Elon Musk’s social network after failing to comply with an order from Minister Alexandre de Moraes to block accounts investigated by the Brazilian judicial system.
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X must pay a final fine before the social network owned by Elon Musk is allowed to come back online in Brazil, according to a decision on Friday by the country’s top justice, Alexandre de Moraes.
The platform was suspended nationwide at the end of August, the decision was made by a panel of judges on September 2. Earlier this month, X filed a document informing the Supreme Court of Brazil that it is now in compliance with the order, which was previously defied.
As reported by Brazil’s G1 Globo, X will now have to pay a new fine of 10 million reais (about $2 million) for two additional days of non-compliance with court orders. X’s legal representative in Brazil, Rachel de Oliveira, must also pay a fine of 300,000 reals.
The case began in April, when de Moraes, the minister of Brazil’s supreme court, known as the Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), began an investigation into Musk and X for allegedly obstructing justice.
Musk vowed to resist a court order to freeze certain accounts in Brazil. He called the court’s actions “censorship,” and lashed out online at de Moraes, describing the judge as a “criminal” and encouraging the U.S. to end foreign aid to Brazil.
In mid-August, Musk closed the X office in Brazil. That leaves the company without a legal representative in the country, a federal requirement for all technology platforms to do business there.
On August 28, the de Moraes court threatened bans and fines if X did not choose a legal representative within 24 hours, and if he did not comply with the takedown request for the account he said, the court had participated in a plot to dox or harm. federal agents, among others.
Earlier this month, the STF froze Musk’s company’s business assets, including X and Starlink’s satellite internet business, which operates in Brazil. The STF said in court filings that it views Starlink’s parent SpaceX and X as companies that work together as related parties.
Musk wrote in a post on X at the time, “Unless the Brazilian government returns illegally confiscated property and SpaceX, we will also seek to confiscate government assets.”
On August 29, 2024, in Brazil, the Minister of the Supreme Court, Minister of the STF Alexandre de Moraes, ordered the blocking of the account of another company, Starlink, Elon Musk, to guarantee the payment of the fine imposed by the STF due to the lack of representative X in Brazil.
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As head of the STF, de Moraes has long advocated federal regulations to prevent hate speech and misinformation online. His views have received pushback from tech companies and far-right officials in the country, along with former President Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters.
Bolsonaro is under investigation, suspected of organizing a coup in Brazil after losing the 2022 presidential election to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
While Musk called for retribution against de Moraes and Lula, they have worked with and praised Bolsonaro for years. Brazil’s former president authorized SpaceX to launch commercial satellite internet services in Brazil by 2022.
Musk bills himself as a defender of free speech, but his track record suggests otherwise. Under his management, X removed content critical of the ruling parties in Turkey and India at the government’s insistence. X agreed to more than 80% of government requests in 2023 during the same period as the previous year, according to an analysis by technology news site Rest of World.
X faces increased competition in Brazil from social applications like Meta-owned Threads, and Bluesky, which has attracted users during its suspension.
Starlink also faces competition in Brazil from eSpace, a French-American company that won permission this year from the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to deliver satellite internet services in the country.
Lukas Darien, a lawyer and professor of law at Brazil’s Facex University Center, told CNBC that the STF’s enforcement action against X will change the way big tech companies view the courts.
“There is no law change here,” Darien wrote in a message. “But specifically, big tech companies now know that these laws will apply regardless of the size of their business and the size of their reach in the country.”
Musk and a representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Late Thursday, X Global Government Affairs posted the following statement:
“X is committed to protecting freedom of speech within the limits of the law and we recognize and respect the sovereignty of the countries we operate in. We believe that Brazilians having access to X is essential for a thriving democracy, and we will continue to defend freedom of expression and the legal process through legal process.”
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