Elon Musk’s X, which has petitioned Brazil’s Supreme Court to lift its operating ban, might soon resume operations if it pays a fine of 10 million reais (about $1.9 million). This is in addition to the 18.3 million reais ($3.4 million) fine previously imposed. Bloomberg reported that the earlier fine was applied to both X and SpaceX’s Starlink satellite operator in September.
Failure to Comply with Court Order
The new fine was imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Friday as a penalty for X’s failure to comply with a court order banning its operations from August 30, including its Starlink satellite internet service. Moraes stated, “Due to X Brasil’s failure to comply with the court order within two days, the company must pay a fine of R$10 million so that it can immediately resume its activities on national territory.” Additionally, Rachel de Oliveira Villa Nova Conceição, the company’s recently appointed legal representative in Brazil, was ordered to pay a fine of R$300,000 ($55,200).
Compliance with Brazilian Law
Moraes emphasized that the social network’s ability to resume operations in Brazil “depends exclusively on full compliance with Brazilian law and absolute respect for judicial orders regarding national sovereignty.” In its petition to lift the ban, X stated that it had complied with previous orders and blocked nine accounts allegedly responsible for spreading hate speech and fake news, notes NIX Solutions.
We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.