Brasilia:

Brazil’s Supreme Court said Tuesday it was lifting a ban on Elon Musk’s social network X, which was blocked in its biggest Latin American market for over a month amid a row over disinformation.

“I authorize the immediate return of the activities” of the social platform, Judge Alexandre de Moraes said in his ruling, after X settled millions of dollars in fines for failing to comply with a series of court orders.

He gave Brazil’s communications regulator 24 hours to make the platform previously known as Twitter accessible again to its millions of Brazilian users.

Musk had yet to react to the decision.

Moraes has for months been embroiled in a standoff with the world’s richest man, a self-declared “free speech absolutist,” over a flood of online disinformation related to Brazil’s 2022 election campaign.

On August 31, the tensions came to a head when Moraes dramatically blocked X for failing to deactivate the accounts of dozens of supporters of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro and to name a new legal representative in Brazil.   

The row, which pitted freedom of expression against corporate responsibility, was closely watched worldwide.

A furious Musk lashed out at Moraes by calling him an “evil dictator” and dubbing him “Voldemort” after the villain from the “Harry Potter” series.

Moraes, for his part, accused the platform of undermining democracy by allowing disinformation to flourish  — a position backed by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who declared that the state would not “be intimidated by individuals, companies or digital platforms that believe themselves to be above the law.”

X eventually complied with all of Moraes’s demands in order to have the suspension lifted.

Last week, the judge confirmed that the company had also settled around $5.2 million in fines.

– Biggest Latin American market –

With more than one mobile phone per inhabitant, Brazilians are among the most connected people in the world.

X had 22 million users in the country before it was blocked.

Many Brazilians, including Lula, migrated to other platforms such as Threads or Bluesky, the social media network created by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.

But neither has come close to attracting the kind of audience enjoyed by X.

X’s fight with Moraes began during the October 2022 election, in which Bolsonaro failed to win a second term.

It escalated following attacks by Bolsonaro supporters on federal buildings in Brasilia after Lula’s inauguration in January 2023.

The destruction by supporters of Bolsonaro, dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics,” drew comparisons with the January 2021 attacks by supporters of then US president Donald Trump on the US Capitol.

Halfway through its suspension X briefly made a return in Brazil in mid-September, after a technical workaround which it claimed was “inadvertent.”

But it went back offline again after Moraes threatened it with more fines for non-compliance.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The X account of Elon Musk in seen blocked on a mobile screen in this illustration after Brazil’s telecommunications regulator suspended access to Elon Musk’s X social network in the country to comply with an order from a judge who has been locked in a months-long feud with the billionaire investor, Sao Paulo, Brazil taken August 31, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Brazilian Supreme Court’s Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Tuesday (October 8, 2024) authorised the restoration of social media platform X’s service in Brazil, over a month after its nationwide shutdown, according to a statement posted on the court’s website.

Elon Musk’s X was blocked on August 30 in the highly online country of 213 million people — and one of X’s biggest markets, with estimates of its userbase ranging from 20 to 40 million.

Mr. De Moraes ordered the shutdown after a monthslong dispute with Mr. Musk over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Mr. Musk had disparaged Mr. de Moraes, calling him an authoritarian and a censor, despite the fact his rulings, including X’s nationwide suspension, were repeatedly upheld by his peers.

Despite Mr. Musk’s public bravado, ultimately X complied with all of Mr. de Moraes’ demands. They included blocking certain accounts from the platform, paying outstanding fines and naming a legal representative. Failure to do the latter had triggered the suspension.

Brasilia:

Elon Musk’s X told Brazil’s Supreme Court it has complied with orders to stop the spread of misinformation and asked a judge to lift a ban on the platform, according to a document seen by Reuters, in a major retreat by the billionaire battling “censorship”.

A decision from the court on X’s return is still pending, but people close to Musk in Brazil believe service could be restored in a matter of days.

The request to resume activities in Brazil, one of X’s largest and most coveted markets, followed a series of conciliatory moves by the social media platform signalling a dramatic backdown in Musk’s months-long feud with Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

The judge, who has spearheaded a local crusade against perceived attacks on democracy and the political use of disinformation, had shut down Brazilians’ access to the platform formerly known as Twitter in late August.

The draconian move followed Musk’s decision to shutter X’s offices in Brazil as he resisted complying with Moraes’ orders.

The judicial battle eventually affected another prominent business controlled by Musk, satellite Internet provider Starlink, whose accounts Moraes froze in a move leading Musk to brand him a “dictator.”

The Brazil spat was just one of a series of recent face-offs between Musk, who views himself as a champion of free speech, and governments including Australia and the UK seeking to prevent the spread of online misinformation.

Brazil was X’s sixth-biggest market globally, with about 21.5 million users.

“Musk was afraid to lose market share, he also realized that this was a nonsense battle and that Brazilians were not turning their backs on Justice Alexandre de Moraes as he had expected,” said Thiago de Aragao, a senior researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

In a final attempt at circumventing Moraes’ ban, X used cloud services offered by third parties, allowing Brazilians to access its platform in spite of the prohibition, but the attempt was short-lived, especially after Moraes threatened to impose heavy fines on the company.

Late last week, X moved in a more conciliatory direction, appointing a local legal representative as Moraes had demanded.

In the document sent to the Brazilian Supreme Court, the company controlled by Musk said it had blocked nine accounts under investigation in a hate speech and misinformation probe.

“His backtracking is very positive. Whether one agrees with it or not, the law is to be respected not defied,” Rubens Barbosa, a former Brazilian ambassador to the United States, told Reuters.

According to two people familiar with Musk´s thinking, the billionaire will take a very different approach once X comes back to Brazil, adding he may still be combative but will likely try to respect the law. “From now on, he will fight in the courts,” one of the people said.

X did not reply to a request for comment.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

San Francisco:

Calling Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes “a fake judge”, tech billionaire Elon Musk on Sunday said that evidence is growing to show that he deliberately interfered in the country’s election held last year.

Musk said this after de Moraes ordered to block Musk’s social media platform X nationwide, following the company’s refusal to appoint a legal representative in the country.

“There is growing evidence that fake judge Alexandre engaged in serious, repeated, and deliberate election interference in Brazil’s last presidential election,” Musk said in a post on X.

There is growing evidence that fake judge @Alexandre engaged in serious, repeated & deliberate election interference in Brazil’s last presidential election.

Under Brazilian law, that would mean up to 20 years in prison.

And, I’m sorry to say that it appears that some former…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 1, 2024

He said that former Twitter employees helped him. He also called out people to share examples.

“Under Brazilian law, that would mean up to 20 years in prison. And, I’m sorry to say that it appears that some former Twitter employees were complicit in helping him do so. Anyone with examples or evidence to this effect, please reply to this post,” Musk said.

Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, with reportedly more than 22 million users.

The platform has been in conflict with de Moraes for months over the platform’s refusal to comply with court orders to remove profiles that promote coup-related content or undermine democracy, according to Xinhua news agency.

Musk also cautioned investors from investing in the country. On Saturday he said: “The oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries”.

The Brazilian Supreme Federal Court has also ordered X to pay fines amounting to 18 million reais (about $3.2 million) for non-compliance.

As per De Moraes, X has facilitated “the actions of extremist groups and digital militias”. The SC judge said that the platform is “enabling the spread of Nazi, racist, fascist, hateful, and anti-democratic speech”, particularly ahead of the upcoming elections.

De Moraes has also instructed the country’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to block access to X within 24 hours. The Brazilian judge also gave Apple and Google five days to remove the X app from their online stores.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Sao Paulo, Brazil:

A block on Elon Musk’s X social network in Brazil started to take effect early Saturday after a Supreme Court judge ordered its suspension, according to AFP.

Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes on Friday ordered the suspension of the platform following a months-long standoff with the tech billionaire over disinformation in South America’s largest nation.

Moraes handed down the ruling after Musk failed to comply with an order to name a new legal representative for the company.

Early Saturday access to X, formerly known as Twitter, was no longer possible for some users in the South American country, who were presented with a message asking them to reload the browser without being able to log in successfully.

Musk, who also owns Tesla and SpaceX, reacted with fury to the judge’s order, branding Moraes an “evil dictator cosplaying as a judge” and accusing him of “trying to destroy democracy in Brazil.”

“Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes,” the billionaire, who has become increasingly aligned with right-wing politics, wrote on X.

The two have been locked in an ongoing, high-profile feud for months as Moraes leads a battle against disinformation in Brazil.

Musk has previously declared himself a “free speech absolutist,” but since he took over the platform formerly known as Twitter in 2022 he has been accused of turning it into a megaphone for right-wing conspiracy theories.

He is a vocal supporter of former US president Donald Trump’s bid to regain the White House.

Moraes ordered the “immediate, complete and comprehensive suspension of the operation of” X in the country, telling the national communications agency to take “all necessary measures” to implement the order within 24 hours.

He threatened a fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) to anyone who used “technological subterfuges” to get around the block, such as a VPN.

The judge also demanded Google, Apple and internet providers “introduce technological obstacles capable of preventing the use of the X application” and access to the website — though he later walked back that order.

The social media platform has more than 22 million users in Brazil.

Musk shut X’s business operations in Brazil earlier this month, claiming Moraes had threatened the company’s previous legal representative with arrest to force compliance with “censorship orders.”

On Wednesday, Moraes told Musk he had 24 hours to find a new representative or he would face suspension.

Shortly after the deadline passed, X said in a statement that it expected Moraes to shut it down “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”

‘Who does Musk think he is?’

The standoff with Musk began when Moraes ordered the suspension of several X accounts belonging to supporters of Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who tried to discredit the voting system in the 2022 election, which he lost.

Brazilian authorities are investigating whether Bolsonaro plotted a coup attempt to prevent current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from assuming office in January 2023.

Online users blocked by Moraes include figures such as far-right ex-congressman Daniel Silveira, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2022 on charges of leading a movement to overthrow the Supreme Court.

In April, Moraes ordered an investigation of Musk, accusing him of reactivating some of the banned accounts.

On Thursday, Musk’s satellite internet operator Starlink said it had received an order from Moraes that froze its accounts and prevented it from conducting financial transactions in Brazil.

Starlink alleged that the order “is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied — unconstitutionally — against X.”

The company said on X that it intended “to address the matter legally.”

Musk is also the subject of a separate judicial investigation into an alleged scheme where public money was used to orchestrate disinformation campaigns in favor of Bolsonaro and those close to him.

“Any citizen from anywhere in the world who has investments in Brazil is subject to the Brazilian Constitution and laws,” Lula told a local radio station on Friday. 

“Who does (Musk) think he is?”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)