Brazil's Supreme Court Asks X To Pay Fine Of Over $5 Million Before Resuming Services In The Country

A source familiar with X indicated that the company is likely to pay all the fines but may challenge the additional $1.8 million penalty imposed after the platform's ban.

Elon Musk owned X was making headway in terms of resuming its services in Brazil after appointing a legal representative there but it seems like the Brazilian Supreme Court is not ready to forget things. The top court has announced that X still needs to pay over $5 million in pending fines, which also includes a new one imposed last week, and it won't be allowed to resume its services in Brazil before it pays the fine.

This announcement comes on the heels of X informing the court that it complied with the orders to curb the spread of misinformation and asking it to lift the ban. 

Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes has ruled that X and its legal representative in Brazil are still required to pay $3.36 million in fines previously imposed by the court. In addition, the judge has issued a new $1.8 million fine due to X briefly becoming accessible for some users in Brazil last week. 

According to Reuters, Judge de Moraes also stated that the court may use funds already frozen from X and Starlink accounts in Brazil to settle the fines. However, this can only happen if Starlink, another company owned by Elon Musk, withdraws its current appeal against the asset freeze.

What Will X Do Now?

A source familiar with X indicated that the company is likely to pay all the fines but may challenge the additional $1.8 million penalty imposed after the platform's ban, reported Reuters. X has been suspended in Brazil, one of its key markets, since late August after Justice Moraes ruled that the company failed to comply with orders to curb hate speech and appoint a local legal representative.

While Musk initially criticized the rulings as censorship, calling Moraes a “dictator,” he began to reverse his stance last week. X’s legal team confirmed the platform had appointed a local representative and would adhere to court orders. In his decision on Friday, Moraes acknowledged that X had blocked the required accounts and named the appropriate legal representative in Brazil.