Brazilian Supreme Court Lifts Ban On Elon Musk’s X (Twitter)

On Tuesday, October 9, Brazil’s Supreme Court announced that it was lifting the ban on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), after the company adhered to court orders and paid substantial fines.

The platform had been inaccessible in Brazil, its largest market in Latin America, for over a month due to a dispute regarding misinformation.

Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who played a key role in the situation, approved the immediate reinstatement of X’s services in the country. He also instructed Brazil’s communications regulator to ensure that the platform was available to its millions of users within 24 hours.

The conflict between Moraes and Musk arose from accusations that X permitted a surge of misinformation during Brazil’s 2022 election campaign. Tensions heightened in August when Moraes blocked the platform for not removing numerous right-wing accounts accused of spreading false information and for failing to appoint a new legal representative in Brazil.

Musk had strongly criticized Moraes, labeling him an “evil dictator,” but X ultimately met all of the judge’s requirements, including paying approximately $5.2 million in fines.

This dispute, viewed as a significant clash between freedom of expression and corporate accountability, garnered global attention. With the ban now lifted, X is operational again in Brazil.