In a recent ruling by a Supreme Court judge in Brazil on Tuesday, October 8th, it was decided that the social media platform X owned by the American billionaire Elon Musk can resume operations in Brazil. Just over a month ago, the same judge had ordered the platform to be shut down nationwide for failing to comply with court requirements.
According to reports from the Associated Press, a public court document revealed that the Supreme Court judge in Brazil, Alexandre de Moraes, granted authorization on Tuesday for the resumption of X platform’s services in Brazil. The judge had previously ordered on August 30th for the platform to be blocked in the country with a population of 213 million and a highly developed internet infrastructure.
Brazil stands as one of the largest markets for the X platform, with an estimated user base ranging from 20 to 40 million people.
Before the shutdown order was issued, de Moraes and Musk engaged in a month-long dispute over issues such as freedom of speech on the X platform, certain accounts, and misinformation. Musk even publicly accused de Moraes of being a “criminal disguised as a judge.”
Nevertheless, X Corporation eventually complied with all of de Moraes’ demands. These demands included blocking certain accounts on the X platform, paying unpaid fines, and appointing a legal representative in Brazil. The failure to appoint a legal representative was the direct reason for the closure of the X platform because Brazilian law stipulates that all internet companies operating in the country must have a legal representative who can receive judicial orders and be legally responsible for the company’s operations.
In the court documents, de Moraes stated: “Out of respect for national sovereignty, the sole condition for X to resume activities within Brazil is full compliance with Brazilian law and absolute obedience to judicial rulings.”
In a statement released on their global government affairs department account, X Corporation expressed: “X is honored to return to Brazil. Throughout the process, enabling tens of millions of Brazilians to use our essential platform is of utmost importance to us. We will continue to defend freedom of speech in all the places where we operate within the limits permitted by law.”
According to public records from the Business Registry Office in Sao Paulo, X Corporation appointed a legal representative on September 20th, who had previously held the position. She was initially appointed as the legal representative in April of this year, but resigned four months later.