A judge in Brazil has lifted a ban on the social media platform X, allowing people in the country access to it yet again. The ban had been in place for nearly six weeks because Elon Musk, the owner of X, had not been complying with Brazil’s legal requirements.
The platform, which had over 22 million users in Brazil, was blocked at the end of August after a long disagreement between Musk and the Brazilian supreme court.
The ban on X was triggered when Elon Musk failed to appoint a local representative and pay the penalty fees. However, the issue was much more complicated than that.
It was part of an ongoing, politically sensitive conflict between Musk and Brazil’s supreme court, as the government was attempting to nip the spread of far-right misinformation and anti-democratic content on the platform in the bud.
Musk called the Brazilian judge “Voldemort”
Experts and Brazilian officials believe harmful content spread online contributed to far-right riots in Brasília in January 2023. Musk, who has shown support for far-right figures such as former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, was furious about the ban in August.
He lashed out, calling Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes a dictator and comparing him to “Voldemort.” Musk also shared a meme mocking the court, using crude humor to express his anger.
BREAKING: Brazil has officially lifted the ban on X. pic.twitter.com/s7P4VyZ4PN
— The Political Pom (@ThePoliticalPom) October 8, 2024
In recent days, Musk appears to have given in, paying 28.6 million reais ($5.1 million) in fines and appointing a Brazilian lawyer as the local representative for X, as required by law.
Because of these actions, Supreme Court Judge Moraes lifted the ban and allowed X to resume operations in Brazil.
He made this decision on Tuesday, instructing Brazil’s telecommunications agency, Anatel, to enforce the ruling. However, by Tuesday evening, X was still not accessible without a virtual private network, but it is expected to be available soon.
Users moved to Bluesky after the ban on X
Brazilian commentators and pro-democracy activists praised X’s compliance with the law as a win for the country’s institutions and sovereignty. They saw it as a sign of respect for the rule of law.
“[The ban] wasn’t censorship,” Gerson Camarotti, a prominent political commentator, told the news channel GloboNews. “This was about non-compliance with judicial decisions…It’s Brazilian democracy that gains with this.”
Camarotti also pointed out that life in Brazil went on smoothly during the ban. Many users, frustrated with Musk’s platform, had moved to the rival social network Bluesky in the meantime.
“The most interesting thing is that Brazil didn’t grind to a halt because of [the ban on] X…Nobody in Brazil died because of the absence of X,” Camarotti remarked. He expressed disappointment over how Musk’s platform had turned into what he described as “the network of hatred.”