Brazilian Court Orders X to Pay Fines Before Service Can Resume

Brazilian Supreme Court rules that social platform X must pay over $5 million in fines to resume service after failing to stop misinformation and comply with local laws.

The Brazilian Supreme Court has ruled that social platform X, owned by Elon Musk, must pay millions in fines before it can resume service in the country. The court ordered the platform to pay a total of $5 million USD (about $7.2 million AUD) in pending fines. These fines were imposed earlier after X failed to follow the country’s laws.

Earlier this week, X asked the court to lift the ban on its services. The company told the court it had followed orders to stop the spread of false information. However, Judge Alexandre de Moraes said that X and its legal representative in Brazil still needed to pay the fines before the platform could return.

In addition to the earlier fines, the judge also added a new penalty of 10 million reais ($2.6 million AUD). This was because the platform was briefly available to some users in Brazil last week, even though it had been banned.

X, which was suspended in Brazil in late August, had not followed court orders to limit hate speech. The platform also failed to name a local legal representative, which is required by Brazilian law. The country is one of X’s biggest and most valuable markets, so the suspension has been a major setback.

The Brazilian government is serious about making sure that tech companies follow their rules, especially when it comes to stopping harmful content like hate speech and misinformation. By imposing these fines, the court is showing that companies must respect local laws or face consequences.

X must now decide whether it will pay the fines and meet Brazil’s legal requirements in order to return to the market.