It has been reported that the company must pay a final penalty to restore access to X (formerly Twitter) in Brazil. According to reports by Bloomberg and CNBC, Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the company to pay a penalty of 10 million Real (about $1.9 million). This penalty was imposed because X did not comply with the orders of the Brazilian court for two days. Moraes stated that the company’s return depends “only on its full compliance with Brazilian law and its strict compliance with court orders respecting national sovereignty.” In particular, X was given this penalty on September 19 because he restored his services for some users by violating the ban. In addition, a new penalty was imposed after the company violated the ban for the second time via Starlink on September 23.
X owner Elon Musk had previously resisted orders to close and freeze several accounts on the platform for allegedly spreading misinformation. Musk considered this as censorship and decided to cease operations across the country rather than comply. Thereupon, Judge Moraes ordered internet providers in Brazil to block X and announced that those who access the site using VPN will be fined 50 thousand Real (314 thousand 432 TL) per day.
Additionally, the Brazilian Supreme Court froze the bank accounts of SpaceX’s Starlink internet service provider in Brazil. In this process, the court collected an amount of 18.35 million Real (115.4 million TL) from the accounts of Starlink and X from the fines previously imposed on X.
X is inclined to comply with decisions made by Brazil
A few days ago, it was reported that lawyers for The company also shut down accounts that the judge had identified in his initial orders as a threat to democracy. These steps show that X is now willing to comply with court orders. According to The New York Times, X had not previously submitted the full documentation required to lift the ban in Brazil. However, Moraes’ statement that “the company can immediately return to its activities after paying this penalty” shows that X has corrected these deficiencies. Thus, it looks like Brazilian users will be able to regain access to the social media platform soon.
Reopening X’s access in Brazil will be an indication of both the company’s and its users’ sensitivity to the legal process. As decisions made by the courts in Brazil become increasingly strict, especially when it comes to combating disinformation, how X manages this legal process will also affect its future activities.