X Cleared to Return in Brazil After Musk Bows to Judge’s Demands

Brazil’s Supreme Court authorized the return of X after Elon Musk complied with its demands, including taking down some user accounts and appointing a legal representative for the platform in the country.
The company has met “all the requirements necessary for the immediate return of activities” in Brazil, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes wrote in an order issued Tuesday. “I decree the end of the suspension.”
The authorization brings an end to a months-long feud between the billionaire owner and Moraes that culminated with the judge blocking the social network formerly known as Twitter at the end of August after Musk flouted Brazilian regulations.
It amounts to a significant capitulation from the world’s richest man, who has used his clash with Moraes as a free-speech crusade against the South American nation’s efforts to police online content.
Musk shut down X’s office in Brazil to protest against orders to remove certain profiles that allegedly posed a danger to its democracy. The top court banned the platform days later for not obeying local laws that require it to have a local representative, blocking the platform that had more than 22 million users in the country.
In the weeks since, Moraes has slapped other Musk companies, including satellite-internet provider Starlink, with fines and threatened additional penalties for not complying with court orders. 
But Musk, who bought the platform in 2022 for $44 billion, surprised critics and admirers alike in late September by giving in to the demands. After he spent months publicly railing against Moraes, X hired lawyers to represent the company in Brazil.
The about-face followed threats of a 5 million reais daily fine on X if it skirted the ban, after a software update allowed it to temporarily evade restrictions. The company payed 10.3 million reais for having become accessible after the ban order. 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.
The clash between a self-styled free speech warrior and a powerful judge captivated internet users inside and outside of Brazil, leading many to wonder aloud if Moraes had gone too far in his efforts to clean up the web.
For months, Musk tweeted out insults and accusations that the judge was attempting to censor conservative voices. Moraes says the court’s efforts are needed to limit online hate speech and falsehoods that pose real dangers to Brazil’s democratic institutions.
While Musk engaged in a personal campaign against Brazilian regulations, his social network has previously heeded demands from other governments, such as Turkey and India, to censor certain posts. The billionaire also attempted to use the episode to rally his conservative-leaning allies around the globe. 
Unlike the US’s more stringent stance on free speech, many countries are taking aggressive steps to make companies more accountable for their online content. 
The bulk of the accounts that Moraes ordered X to take down belong to supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who used the platform to question the right-wing leader’s election loss in 2022.
Baseless claims of hacking and vote stealing that swirled in the wake of the vote fueled the rage of protesters that rioted in Brasilia on the false belief that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had lost the election.
Musk has vocally backed Bolsonaro and worked with his government to bring his Starlink service to Brazil.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.