Brazilian Supreme Court Sets New Conditions for Reinstating Musk's X Platform

The Brazilian Supreme Court, led by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, imposed new conditions for the reinstatement of Elon Musk's social media platform, X, in Brazil.

This decision follows a series of legal battles and compliance issues that have kept the platform suspended for nearly a month.

Justice de Moraes ruled that X could only resume operations after Starlink, Musk’s satellite-based internet service provider, withdraws its appeals related to the case. The court had previously ordered Starlink’s assets to cover X’s accumulating fines, which now exceed $3 million.

Additionally, a new fine of 10 million Brazilian reais ($1.84 million) was imposed on X for temporarily routing users through a third-party service, Cloudflare, which briefly brought the platform back online in Brazil.

The conflict began earlier this year when X faced scrutiny for hosting far-right content and misinformation. Despite Musk's accusations of censorship and describing de Moraes as authoritarian, the judge’s decisions have been upheld by his peers.

On August 30, 2024, X was suspended due to its failure to appoint a legal representative in Brazil, a requirement it has since complied with. However, the newly appointed representative was fined 300,000 reais ($55,000) for not adhering to earlier court decisions.

In a statement on Thursday, X expressed its commitment to "protecting free speech within the boundaries of the law" and emphasized the importance of access to the platform for a thriving democracy in Brazil. The company stated, "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."

For X to be reinstated, it must also pay a total of 18.3 million reais ($3.4 million) in pending fines. The court has indicated that resources already frozen from X and Starlink accounts in Brazil can be used to settle these fines, provided Starlink drops its appeal against the funds blockage.