Moraes Ends Ban on Elon Musk’s X in Brazil

• Conflict arose when X (formerly Twitter) refused to follow Brazilian regulations.
• X complied, leading to the ban being lifted and the platform returning to Brazil.
• The implications of this episode highlight the tension between free speech and the impact on Brazil’s significant user base.

On this Tuesday, Alexandre de Moraes – Minister of the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) – ended the ongoing stand-off with Elon Musk and his social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). About a month ago, Moraes ruled to ban the platform from operating in the country after X refused to comply with the appointment of a company representative located in Brazil, as well as not removing accounts accused of spreading political misinformation.

Recently the court minister who also serves as the President of the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court (TSE) affirmed in his ruling that X had fulfilled all requirements needed for the ban lift. The company now has appointed a local representative in the country – as well as complied with paying a multi-million dollar fine.

The agency in charge of Brazilian telecommunications (ANATEL) was notified on October 8 – and the platform should return to operations in the country in no more than 24 hours. 

What Happened Between Moraes and Musk

The dispute between Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes and multi-billionaire Elon Musk began after X (formerly Twitter) refused to appoint a local representative in Brazil. The company argued that it feared for the legal safety of this employee due to Moraes’ alleged overreach in his rulings.

On top of that, X also refused to comply with account takedown notices that involved some of Brazil’s most notorious right-wing politicians linked to former President Jair Bolsonaro – including Senator Marcos do Val and the congressman who broke the record for most votes in a Brazilian election, Nikolas Ferreira. 

The Supreme Court understands that the personalities to which the company received a takedown notice were infringing legal and electoral laws. Senator Do Val is accused of spreading misinformation regarding the 2022 Presidential election, delivering inflammatory and hateful comments against Moraes and the Supreme Court, as well as being investigated to have some link to the storming of Brazil’s Presidential Palace on January 8, 2023, which occurred after Bolsonaro lost the election to now-President Lula da Silva. Similarly, Nikolas Ferreira is also accused of spreading political misinformation, supporting false claims about political opponents, and engaging in inflammatory rhetoric against minorities.

The “Alexandre Files” account further fueled the controversy surrounding the actions of Alexandre de Moraes. Created by X (formerly Twitter), the account aimed to expose what it claimed were unlawful directives issued by Moraes. This move was seen as a direct challenge to the Supreme Court judge’s authority and added another layer of complexity to the ongoing conflict between the platform and Brazilian regulatory authorities.

Moraes’ rulings receive just as much praise as criticism in the country. While politicians and journalists who tend to support the current government tend to agree with the STF’s decisions – right-wing members and even pro-free speech journalists like Glenn Greenwald tend to heavily disagree with the judge. 

As of today, X is already blocked by many if not most telephone and internet service providers in Brazil.

The most shocking part is how Brazil's authoritarian censorship judge, Alexandre de Moraes, also invented a new law that fines anyone using a VPN to access X $10,000/day.

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 31, 2024

The latter, the American Pulitzer-winning journalist living in Brazil, Greenwald defends that Alexandre de Moraes’ actions classify as “censorship”, and that it sets a dangerous precedent for Governments to censor Social Media. The fact that Twitter’s ban occurred exactly during the mayoral elections in Brazil also sparks even more criticism against Moraes.

Now, as the disagreement between Musk and Moraes looks to be heading to its conclusion, the company can now recover the Brazilian user base, which represents approximately 6% of the total platform’s user base. This significant portion highlights the major impact of this movement on the platform.