Brazil's Supreme Court Orders X To Pay $5 Million Fine To Resume Service

Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled on Saturday that social media platform X owned by Elon Musk must pay over $5 million in pending fines before resuming services in the country. The fines include a new penalty for briefly lifting the ban on X last week which allows some Brazilian users to access the platform. Judge Alexandre de Moraes stated that X and its Brazilian legal representative must pay 18.3 million reais ($3.4 million) in previously ordered fines. Additionally, the court imposed a new fine of 10 million reais ($1.8 million) related to the temporary lifting of the ban.

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The court also said that X must agree to pay these fines and drop Starlink’s appeal against the frozen funds in Brazil to proceed further. However,  X hasn’t commented but as per the reports, the company will likely pay the fines but may challenge the additional penalty. The turmoil started early in August when the X platform was suspended in Brazil for failing to comply with hate speech restrictions and appoint a local representative. Musk initially denounced the orders as censorship but later reversed his stance complying with court rulings.

Since the brawl between Elon Musk and Brazil’s Supreme Court has been discussed and sparked controversy the X platform in Brazil confronts a ban from Justice Alexandre de Moraes in August. This ban was linked to the tussle between billionaire Elon Musk and Justice de Moraes. Supreme Court suspended a myriad number of X accounts in April due to policy violations and the spread of disinformation.

The court has eliminated the X accounts that belonged to the Jair Bolsonaro supporters (Brazilian politician and retired military officer who served as the 38th President from 2019 to 2023 and is also known for his right-wing nationalist politics). Later, the X platform blocked the accounts since the court imposed a whopping fine as the app didn’t comply with the proposed law and order.

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