The social networking site X has been allowed to relaunch immediately in Brazil by the Supreme Court of Brazil, following the company's compliance with prior court rulings and fulfillment of many legal conditions.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Court rendered the verdict on October 8 and ordered Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to take all necessary actions to allow the platform to resume operations throughout the South American nation, where X is reported to have 20 million members.
Due to persistent violation with court judgments regarding corporate legal counsel and content moderation regulations, as well as the suspension of specific user accounts, the platform—owned by tech mogul Elon Musk—had been stopped nationally since August 30.
The suspension has been explained by Brazilian authorities as a component of an ongoing probe into the platform's purported involvement in the dissemination of hate speech and disinformation at pivotal times, such as the run-up to Brazil's municipal elections in 2024.
Musk and X’s global government affairs team have denounced de Moraes’s orders—and the suspension itself—as unlawful attempts at censorship.
De Moraes stressed that the platform's restoration is contingent upon its strict commitment to Brazilian law and the "absolute observance of the Judiciary's decisions, in respect of national sovereignty" in a statement issued by the Supreme Court on October 8.
De Moraes's ruling comes after X completed a number of compliance actions, including as paying penalties totaling around $5.4 million and designating a legal representation in Brazil. The decision states that X proved compliance by submitting many petitions in September. These included the blocking of accounts found to be in violation of Brazilian law on September 18 and the official registration of X's legal representative with Brazilian authorities on September 20. Additionally, the social media network verified on October 4 that all outstanding penalties had been paid in full.
Due to worries that extremist organizations would use the platform to spread anti-democratic ideas and instigate violence, the court had previously listed these requirements in order to allow the platform to reopen.
Although Brazil is not the first nation to outlaw X, authoritarian governments have often been the only ones to take such measures. North Korea, China, Iran, and Russia have all blocked the website, which was once known as Twitter. In an effort to quell dissension and instability, X has also been temporarily halted in Pakistan, Turkey, and Egypt.
Concerns have been raised by several critics, notably advocacy organizations, that Brazil's decision to suspend X is indicative of larger censorship trends in the nation. For instance, Brazil's censoring practices have been dubbed "one of the most oppressive cultures of censorship in the Western Hemisphere—one which could spread across the West" by Alliance Defending Freedom International.
Research company Emarketer's Matteo Ceurvels, a Latin America and Spain expert, said Musk's change of heart in Brazil after earlier criticizing de Moraes is not unexpected.
“The move was pragmatic, likely driven by the economic consequences of losing access to millions of users in its third-largest market worldwide, along with the millions of dollars in associated advertising revenue,” Ceurvels said. “Although X may not be a top priority for most advertisers in Brazil, the platform needs them more than they need it.”
A request for X to comment on the reinstatement decision was not answered.
