Brazil's Supreme Court cleared X, the social media company owned by Elon Musk, to resume operation in the country following a long legal battle.
The ban on Musk's X was initially levied because the company refused to follow court orders regarding the blocking of a few X accounts. These X accounts were found to be spreading hate and misinformation by the Brazil Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who was behind the implementation of the orders against X, has stated that the service had respected all the measures that were supposed to be taken to restore its operations. Moraes ruled this after X began blocking flagged accounts at court and appointed an agent to operate in Brazil, showing a desire to respect the Brazilian legislation.
According to Brazil's minister of communication, Juscelino Filho, the decision taken by the court was a great victory. He emphasized that this court case will serve as a reminder that all the companies operating in the country must respect their legal compliance laws and regulations. Juscelino Filho further noted, "We have proven to the world that here laws must be respected by whosoever,".
The suspension of X's services in Brazil has been in place for several months. It was motivated chiefly by Justice Moraes' concerns over the spreading of misinformation, thus attacking Brazil’s democracy. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva supported this stance, underlining the point that local legislation applies to everyone equally, including influential people. Read more
Brazil is one of X's biggest consumer markets, with an estimated 21.5 million users, thus the suspension hurt the company immensely as users flocked towards other alternatives like Bluesky and Meta Threads. This latest decision is going to get X back in touch with its users as it learns how to handle complex regulations.
As of now, users in Brazil are still awaiting full access to the platform with X promising to uphold free speech while complying with local laws.