X, which was blocked in Brazil last month on the orders of the Supreme Court, has become available again in the country after a recent update to its communications network, according to a report by Reuters.
The platform became accessible to many users again after it was blocked following a highly publicised feud between X owner and billionaire Elon Musk and Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes. The flaring spat began following official investigations into X’s content moderation practices.
X (formerly Twitter) was accused of spreading misinformation and hate speech in the country and the Supreme Court ordered the platform to block certain accounts. Musk, who used harsh words — including “evil dictator” and “tyrant” — for Justice Moraes, informed his followers on X that the company had been forced to take down the flagged accounts without any justification. The reported accounts were subsequently blocked after X sent out notifications to them about the takedown.
Musk levelled allegations against the Brazilian authorities that they harassed the company’s legal representative and froze her bank accounts, forcing her to leave the country. When Judge de Moraes ordered X to designate a new legal representative, Musk refused to comply with the directives, and launched a barrage of criticism against the judge, labelling his actions “censorship”.
After the deadline to name a new legal representative expired, the Supreme Court ordered X to be blocked. Musk, however, told users they could still use the platform via virtual private networks (VPNs). The court, on the other hand, warned against the use of VPNs, announcing fines for those who would be found using them. The use of VPNs to access X has been penalised with a fine worth up to $9,000 a day in Brazil.
However, when X became accessible to a number of users after the update this week, the Supreme Court sprung into action again. It has warned X not to circumvent the blockage and has imposed a fine of $921,726 on the platform already. The penalty will pile up daily if X continues to operate in the country.
“There is no doubt that X, under Elon Musk’s direct command, again intends to disrespect Brazil’s Judiciary,” Justice Moraes stated in his latest order issued on Wednesday. His remarks suggested that X had a “strategy” to work around the continuing suspension. According to X, however, the restoration of the platform was a result of a switch in network providers, which led to an “inadvertent and temporary service restoration”.
The company says efforts to restore the platform in the country are under way and that X’s services will be back on in Brazil “very soon”.
The law in Brazil requires tech companies to have a legal representative in the country.
More on Elon Musk and Justice Alexandre de Moraes’ flaring feud here
