Brazil’s Supreme Court says it will lift a ban on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
In his decision, Judge Alexandre de Moraes said he had allowed the “immediate return” of X’s operations in the country after it paid heavy fines and blocked accounts accused of spreading false information.
According to a reportThe site has paid a total of 28 million reais ($5.1m; £3.8m) in fines and agreed to appoint a local representative in accordance with Brazilian law.
Moraes blocked access to a site owned by Elon Musk after refusing to ban several profiles the government deemed to be spreading disinformation about the 2022 Brazilian presidential election.
Brazil’s telecommunications watchdog, Anatel, has been instructed to ensure service resumes within 24 hours for more than 20 million users in the country.
Defying court orders for months, Musk fired the company’s Brazilian employees and closed X’s office in Brazil in late August.
“The decision to close the X offices in Brazil was a difficult one,” Musk, who also runs electric car maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, wrote at the time.
The billionaire businessman, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” had described Judge Moraes’ move to ban dozens of accounts as an abuse of power and a violation of free speech.
Several days later, Judge Moraes ordered a nationwide shutdown of the entire platform.
Many users switched to alternative platforms such as Bluesky, and the demand for VPNs (virtual proxy networks) rose in Brazil.
But in September, the site began an apparent U-turn on the court’s orders.
On Tuesday, X said it was “an honor to return to Brazil”.
“Giving tens of thousands of Brazilians access to our essential platform has been critical throughout this entire process,” its government affairs team said. wrote in a statement.
It appears that X has now complied with all of the judge’s requests for the ban to be lifted.
Brazil is one of the largest markets for the site worldwide, as well as its largest market in Latin America, with an estimated 22 million users.
