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Elon Musk must pay an additional 10.3 million reais ($1.9 million) to restore X in Brazil after the platform’s two-day non-compliance with a court order, according to a Supreme Court filing on September 27.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes imposed the penalty for X’s two-day non-compliance with the court order after the platform remained accessible following the August 30 ban, including through Musk’s Starlink service.
Moraes also stated that the company’s legal representative, Rachel de Oliveira Villa Nova Conceição, must pay 300,000 reais.
X’s Ban in Brazil
Earlier, Brazil’s Supreme Court announced it had recovered 7.2 million reais ($1.3 million) from X and 11 million reais ($1.9 million) from Starlink to settle fines imposed on the companies.
Lawyers for the platform confirmed it would remove accounts threatening Brazil’s democracy, despite Elon Musk’s prior refusal. X has also complied with fines and appointed new representatives in the country.
The ban followed rising tensions between Musk and Brazil’s judiciary, especially Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has led the crackdown on digital misinformation. Musk’s defiance of court orders and the closure of X’s Brazil office worsened the dispute. As a vocal advocate for “free speech,” Musk accused authorities of political censorship.
They’re shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil https://t.co/RasqcQ3ySM
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2024
After three weeks of contesting the ban and continuing to host far-right content, X was blocked by Brazilian ISPs but briefly returned. X’s team explained the platform’s brief return as accidental after switching to Cloudflare, but Brazilian authorities were suspicious due to the difficulty of blocking dynamic IPs.
Overall, X must pay over $5 million in pending fines, including a new penalty, before being allowed to resume services in Brazil, according to a court document.
A source close to X indicated that the tech firm is likely to pay all fines but may challenge the additional 10 million reais imposed by the court following the platform ban, Reuters reports.
