Brasilia: Brazil’s Supreme Court granted permission for X to resume operations in the country on Tuesday, following the social media platform’s shift in stance and compliance with court rulings that billionaire owner Elon Musk had previously vowed to resist.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who had been engaged in a prolonged dispute with Musk, authorized X to restart its services in Latin America’s largest nation effective immediately. In his decision, Moraes noted that X had fulfilled all the necessary conditions to resume operations.
Musk, who had condemned the court orders as censorship and labeled Moraes a “dictator”, began to change his position in recent weeks. This included X blocking accounts flagged by the court, engaging a local representative, and settling outstanding fines. In his Tuesday ruling, Moraes mandated that Brazil’s telecommunications regulator, Anatel, must facilitate X’s return online within 24 hours. However, as of 7 p.m. local time, users in Brazil were still unable to access the platform.
Through its Global Affairs account, X expressed its pride in returning to Brazil, stating it “will continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law” in the countries where it operates. The conflict in Brazil was part of a broader series of confrontations between Musk, who sees himself as a champion of free speech, and governments in Australia and the United Kingdom that aim to curb the spread of online misinformation.
Brazil’s communication minister described X’s decision to pay the fines and comply with court orders as a “victory for the country.” “We showed the world that here our laws should be respected, by whomever it may be,” Juscelino Filho said in a statement.
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Judicial Battle
X’s suspension initially arose from a singular ruling by Moraes, who has led a local initiative against perceived threats to democracy and the misuse of disinformation in politics. His ruling was subsequently supported unanimously by a five-member panel of the Supreme Court and its chief justice. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also endorsed the decision, emphasizing that businesses in Brazil must adhere to local laws and asserting that the world should not “put up with Musk’s far-right ideology just because he is rich.”
At that time, justices indicated they would be open to re-evaluating the suspension if X complied with their rulings. Initially, the social media company had resisted compliance, deeming the orders “illegal.”
As of April, Brazil was X’s sixth-largest market, boasting around 21.5 million users, according to data from Statista. During the suspension, many users transitioned to competing platforms like Bluesky and Meta Platforms’ Threads.
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X had legal representation in Brazil until mid-August when it decided to close its local offices in response to the court’s orders, which it referred to as “censorship orders,” without appointing someone to take on legal responsibilities in the country. This action ultimately led to the suspension, contributing to a judicial battle that also impacted another Musk-controlled business, satellite internet provider Starlink, whose accounts were temporarily frozen by Moraes to cover fines imposed on X.
A new representative for X, lawyer Rachel de Oliveira Conceicao, was appointed in late September, coinciding with X’s announcement that it had started to block accounts as mandated by the court. Earlier this month, the firm settled outstanding fines it had previously disregarded, paving the way for its reinstatement in Brazil.
During the suspension, X was absent from the Brazilian landscape throughout the final month of the country’s municipal elections, which took place on Sunday. However, in numerous cities, including São Paulo—the largest city in Latin America—mayoral elections will proceed to run-offs on October 27.
