X Faces Additional $1.9M Fine to Lift Ban in Brazil

Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) could soon resume operations in Brazil—if it pays an additional 10 million reais ($1.9 million) fine. This is on top of a prior 18.3 million reais ($3.4 million) penalty imposed on the platform.

Brazil’s Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes has stated that X can return to the country’s digital landscape if it pays the fines and drops its appeal through Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink. Earlier this year, Brazil banned X following a legal dispute over the platform’s refusal to block certain accounts accused of spreading election misinformation.

As a result of the ban, rival platforms like Bluesky gained significant popularity in Brazil. However, X recently reversed its stance, agreeing to block the accounts, pay the fines, and appoint a legal representative in the country. The new $1.9 million fine comes after X allegedly resumed operations in Brazil earlier this month, which the company claims was an unintended result of switching to Cloudflare’s infrastructure.

X’s Global Government Affairs team responded by emphasizing its commitment to respecting national laws and supporting democracy in Brazil. Only time will tell if the company actually agrees to the fine in order to reactivate their operations in Brazil – and whether or not the users they left behind will return to the platform once they do.