Brazil court says Elon Musk must pay $1.9 million to lift ban on X

By Daniel Carvalho

Elon Musk will have to pay an additional 10.3 million reais ($1.9 million) to reinstate social media platform X in Brazil, according to a Supreme Court filing Friday.

The penalty was ordered by top court Justice Alexandre de Moraes as punishment for X having become accessible after the ban order on Aug. 30, including through Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink.

“Thus, in the face of non-compliance by X Brasil with the court order for two days, the company must collect a fine of 10 million reais so that it can immediately return to its activities in national territory,” Moraes said in the filing. The company’s legal representative in Brazil, Rachel de Oliveira Villa Nova Conceição, must pay 300,000 reais, according to the court.

Moraes said the immediate return of X “depends solely on the full compliance with Brazilian legislation and the absolute observance of the court orders in respect of national sovereignty.”

Earlier in September Brazil withdrew 18.35 million reais from local bank accounts of X and Starlink to pay for fines imposed by the Supreme Court. Moraes had blocked Starlink’s accounts in a bid to force the technology company to settle penalties imposed for ignoring a previous order.

The company formerly known as Twitter informed the court that it followed previous orders and blocked nine accounts allegedly responsible for disseminating hate speech and fake news.

In April, Musk pledged to defy orders from Moraes, who is spearheading a judicial campaign against hate speech and fake news, to suspend certain accounts in the country. The world’s richest man accused the judge of censorship, while Moraes opened a criminal inquiry into Musk alleging he was spreading disinformation. Last week Musk backed down and decided to comply with the court orders.

A few days before the capitulation the platform abruptly became accessible to Brazilian users after an automatic update switched the way it directs traffic, the country’s association of internet providers said.

Moraes ordered X to restore a block on its site Sept. 19 or face fines of 5 million reais a day, accusing it of attempting to “disobey” the court. A spokesperson for X said late Sept. 18 that a change to its network provider following the ban had caused an “inadvertent and temporary service restoration to Brazilian users.” Brazil’s telecommunications watchdog informed the court that X disregarded the order a second time, on Sep. 23, via Starlink.

The law firm hired by X in Brazil declined to comment Moraes’ new order.