Elon Musk will have to pay an additional 10.3 million reais (US$1.9 million) to restore social media platform X in Brazilaccording to a ruling issued on Friday by the Supreme Court.
The sanction was ordered by Judge Alexandre de Moraes as punishment for the fact that was accessible after the August 30 ban order, including through Musk’s satellite internet provider, Starlink.
“Thus, given the failure by X Brasil to comply with the court order for two days, the company must pay a fine of 10 million reais so that it can immediately return to its activities in national territory”Moraes said in the presentation. The company’s legal representative in Brazil, Rachel de Oliveira Villa Nova Conceição, must pay 300,000 reais, according to the court.
Moraes said that X’s immediate return “depends solely on full compliance with Brazilian legislation and absolute observance of court orders regarding national sovereignty.”
Earlier this month, Brazil withdrew 18.35 million reais from the local bank accounts of X and Starlink to pay fines imposed by the Supreme Court. Moraes had blocked Starlink accounts in an attempt to force the technology company to pay fines imposed for ignoring an earlier order.
The company, formerly known as Twitter, informed the court that it had followed earlier orders and blocked nine accounts allegedly responsible for spreading hate speech and fake news.
In April, Musk was determined to defy orders from Moraes, who is leading a judicial campaign against hate speech and fake news, to suspend certain accounts in the country. The richest man in the world accused the judge of censorship, while Moraes opened a criminal investigation against Musk alleging that he was spreading disinformation. Last week, Musk backed down and decided to comply with court orders.
Just days before the capitulation, the platform abruptly became accessible to Brazilian users after an automatic update changed the way it directs traffic, the country’s internet providers association said.
Moraes ordered An X spokesperson said late on September 18 that a change in its network provider following the ban had caused an “inadvertent and temporary restoration of service to Brazilian users.” Brazil’s telecommunications watchdog informed the court that X disobeyed the order for the second time, on September 23, via Starlink.
The law firm hired by X in Brazil declined to comment on Moraes’ new order.
