Brazil: X's suspension lifted after long standoff with Musk

The Brazilians go to war new power to use the social network X, after the lifting on Tuesday of the suspension imposed by a Supreme Court judge at the end of August on name of the fight against disinformation.

“I order the lifting of the suspension and authorize the immediate resumption of X's activities in the national territory,” reads the ruling signed by Judge Alexandre de Moraes.

Mr. Moraes authorized the reactivation of Elon Musk's platform in the largest country in Latin America, considering that all judicial requirements had been met.

Among these, the payment of fines totaling 28.6 million reais (about 4.8 million euros) and the deletion of accounts suspected of disseminating false information. The former Twitter also had to appoint a new legal representative in Brazil.

“X is proud to return to Brazil (…) We will continue to defend freedom of expression, within the limits of the law, wherever we operate,” the platform said on its X account dedicated to global government affairs.

Mr. Moraes gave the telecommunications regulator, Anatel, 24 hours to restore access to the platform used by 22 million Brazilians.

– “Brazil is sovereign” –

“Once we receive the instructions” from Anatel, X “could be operational again in some places in a matter of hours,” Basilio Rodriguez Perez of the Brazilian Association of Internet Service Providers (Abrint) told AFP.

A poster thanks X boss Elon Musk during a rally of supporters of far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, on September 7, 2024 in Sao Paulo © AFP – NELSON ALMEIDA

Elon Musk had announced the closure of X's Brazilian offices on August 17, while keeping the platform operational.

Judge Moraes suspended the network on August 30, finding that X had ignored orders to block accounts suspected of disinformation, most of which were linked to the Brazilian far right and belonged to bloggers, entrepreneurs, journalists and former parliamentarians.

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Since Mr. Musk bought Twitter — who renamed it X — the platform has been criticized well beyond Brazil for its laxity in the face of disinformation. Her detractors also accuse her of becoming a mouthpiece for the radical right.

“We have shown the world that the laws must be respected here, whoever you are. Brazil is sovereign,” said Communications Minister Juscelino Filho in a statement released a few hours after the unblocking order.

However, Brazilian users regained access to the platform on September 18, due to a technical maneuver that allowed the blockage to be bypassed.

X ​​explained that this restoration of its service was an “unintentional” effect of a server change.

X CEO Elon Musk (left) and Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes © AFP – ETIENNE LAURENT, EVARISTO SA

But Judge Moraes refuted this argument and imposed new fines, considering that X “has shown himself to be recalcitrant, unlawfully, persistently and with the intention of not respecting the judicial orders.”

The next day, the platform was inaccessible again in Brazil.

Since then, X has shown himself willing to comply with the demands of the Supreme Court, burying the hatchet after several months of standoff between Elon Musk and Judge Moraes.

– “Censorship” –

The billionaire had repeatedly accused the magistrate of “censorship”, calling him a “dictator” and comparing him to Voldemort, the villain in the Harry Potter saga.

Judge Moraes has long been inflexible, believing that X constituted a threat to democracy and promoted disinformation.

A vision shared by Brazilian left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

At the end of September, during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly, the latter affirmed that the State should “not let itself be intimidated by individuals, companies or digital platforms that believe themselves to be above the law”.

But his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) has continued to support Mr. Musk, crying “censorship”.

Brazil is an ultra-connected country, with more than one smartphone per inhabitant.

After the suspension, some X users turned to competitors, Threads or Bluesky, but these platforms did not manage to fully establish themselves as the natural replacements for the old Twitter.

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