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Brazil Lifts Ban on Elon Musk’s X After $5M Fine, Restoring Access to 22M Users

Last Updated
Kurt Robson
Last Updated
By Kurt Robson
Edited by Samantha Dunn

Key Takeaways

  • Brazil’s Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes has lifted the ban on Elon Musk’s X in the country.
  • The social media platform was forced to pay hefty fines.
  • Moraes ordered the “immediate and complete suspension” of X on Friday, Aug. 30.
  • The Alexandre Files X account was dedicated to “revealing unlawful directives issued to X” by Moraes.

Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has had its ban lifted by Brazil’s Supreme Court.

Judge Alexandre de Moraes said he had given X the green light in the country after it blocked malicious accounts and paid several large fines.

X Back in Brazil

Brazil’s telecoms watchdog Anatel has been ordered to resume access to X for the country’s 22 million users.

The social media platform paid fines totalling 28 million reais ($5.1 million), according to a statement.  Musk also agreed to appoint a local representative in the country.

“X is proud to return to Brazil,” the platform’s Global Government Affairs shared in a post . “Giving tens of millions of Brazilians access to our indispensable platform was paramount throughout this entire process.”

“We will continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law, everywhere we operate,” the post stated.

The Alexandre Files

Elon Musk previously made a dedicated account for the public conflict between Alexandre de Moraes and X.

On Saturday, Aug. 31, just one day after Moraes banned X in Brazil, the social media platform created the ‘Alexandre Files’ account, which vowed to “reveal the unlawful directives issued to X” by the judge

X said it was “forced to create” the ‘Alexandre Files’ account  “because there is no transparency from the court, and the people who are being censored have no recourse to appeal.” “Our own appeals have been ignored, it added. 

The first post on the Alexandre Files account claimed that an August 8 order for X to block seven individual accounts was “in direct violation of Brazilian law.

X must block, within two hours and in secret, the following accounts (including that of a sitting Brazilian Senator) in their entirety, without any reference to a single illegal post from any of the accounts, the order reads. 

The post from X highlights a portion of Brazilian law that states, Any and all censorship of a political, ideological, and artistic nature is forbidden.”

One of the seven accounts Moraes ordered X to block was Brazilian Senator Marcos do Val.  In a series of posts on the account, X alleged that anyone “who seeks to expose him [Moraes] or his accomplices — in any way — must be silenced in the name of ‘democracy.‘”

The social media platform claimed that Moraes had violated “Articles 5 and 220 of the Brazilian Federal Constitution.”

In one example, X shared a now-deleted post from Senator Val that denounced Federal Police Delegate Fabio Alvarez Shor for acting as a henchman for Moraes and violating the human rights of Brazilians under Moraes’ orders.

Marcos do Val Publicly Defends X 

Senator Marcos do Val rushed to the defense of Elon Musk and X after Moraes’ initial ruling.

The disgruntled senator wrote on X  that Moraes had been “demonstrating a serious mental disorder and should be removed to a prison with mental treatment.”

Val claimed the judge’s rulings were driven by “personal revenge and had “generated serious consequences for human dignity, configuring, in many cases, true crimes against humanity.”

Elon Musk v. Alexandre de Moraes

In classic Musk style, the CEO previously took to his social media platform to announce the launch of the Alexandre Files account and slam Moraes  as a “fake judge.”

“Today, we launch the daily data dump on the crimes—under *Brazilian*law- that fake ‘judge Alexandre has committed, ” Musk said in the post.

“He can block this platform in Brazil, but he can’t stop the whole world from knowing his illegal, shameful & hypocritical deeds. Karma’s a b*tch bro, he added. 

Musk has long criticized Alexandre de Moraes’ actions, accusing him of overreaching his authority and silencing free speech in Brazil.

Despite public backlash, Moraes has remained firm on his decisions, arguing that the measures were necessary to protect democracy and prevent the spread of harmful misinformation.

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Kurt Robson

Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN with a diverse background across several prominent news outlets. Having transitioned into the world of technology journalism several years ago, Kurt has developed a keen fascination with all things AI. Kurt’s reporting blends a passion for innovation with a commitment to delivering insightful, accurate and engaging stories on the cutting edge of technology.
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