Musk’s X platform takes first step toward lifting Brazil ban

Social media platform X has named a legal representative in Brazil—a first step toward being able to resume service in the country—but its suspension will continue until it meets further requirements, a judge has ruled.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said in a decision published Saturday that X had still “not duly met” all requirements for ending the ban, and he gave it five days to file additional documents.

The high-profile judge has been engaged in a long feud with X’s owner, billionaire Elon Musk, as part of his drive to crack down on disinformation in Brazil.

His suspension of X last month came after Musk refused to remove dozens of right-wing accounts accused of spreading fake news, and then failed to name a new legal representative in the country as ordered.

The clash between the Brazilian court and the iconoclastic billionaire has morphed into a high-stakes tussle testing the limits of both freedom of expression and corporate responsibility in South America’s largest country.

The social media platform had more than 22 million users in Brazil before the ban.

Moraes also ordered X to pay a fine of at least five million reals ($913,000) for having violated the suspension order on Thursday, when the platform again became accessible following a technical maneuver that effectively circumvented the government blockade.

X denied intentionally defying the ban, saying it was the “inadvertent and temporary” consequence of a change of network providers. It later went offline again.

But Moraes said X had intentionally engaged in “malicious, illicit and persistent” efforts to defy Brazilian justice.

In their continuing head-to-head, Musk has accused Moraes of being an “evil dictator,” while the magistrate has insisted that X cannot be allowed to disseminate disinformation that might endanger democracy.

The suspension was applauded by Brazil’s political left behind President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, while the rightist opposition and former president Jair Bolsonaro have blasted it as unconstitutional censorship.

Moraes has also frozen the assets of X and Musk’s satellite internet operator Starlink—which has been operating in Brazil since 2022, especially in remote communities in the Amazon—to ensure payment of fines imposed on the social network for flouting court orders.

Musk has repeatedly hit out at Moraes in social media posts, calling him an “evil dictator” and dubbing him “Voldemort” after the villain from the “Harry Potter” series.

© 2024 AFP