Brazil's top court threatens X with hefty fine for bypassing ban

Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered providers to block X after a long dispute with Musk

The logo of social media platform X is seen on a mobile phone next to a reflection of Brazil's Supreme Court in this illustration taken Aug 30, 2024, in Brasilia, Brazil. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

Brazil's Supreme Court ordered Elon Musk-owned X not to circumvent a previous ruling suspending the social media platform in the country, at risk of a daily fine of 5 million reais ($921,726.95), according to a decision issued late on Wednesday.

X became accessible to many users in Brazil on Wednesday after an update to its communications network bypassed the court-ordered block. A 5-million-real fine has already been imposed because of that action, according to the decision.

In August, after a months-long dispute between Musk and Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court ordered Brazil's mobile and internet service providers to block the platform, cutting users off within hours.

"There is no doubt that X, under Elon Musk's direct command, again intends to disrespect Brazil's Judiciary," Moraes wrote in his latest order, saying the platform had a "strategy" to circumvent the ban.

X said on Wednesday that a switch in network providers had resulted in "an inadvertent and temporary service restoration" in Brazil, adding that it is maintaining efforts to work with the Brazilian government to resume service there "very soon".

Brazilian law office Pinheiro Neto Advogados, which is representing X in the Brazilian Supreme Court, declined to comment on Thursday.

Courts have previously blocked accounts implicated in probes of allegedly spreading misinformation and hate, which Musk has denounced as censorship, and they have ordered X to name a local representative as required by Brazilian law.

The national telecommunications agency Anatel said in a statement that it is working to block X's access in Brazil through Cloudflare, the content delivery network the platform used to circumvent the block. This will likely happen by the end of Thursday, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Other platforms, such as Fastly and EdgeUno, may have also been tapped by X to bypass the law, according to authorities.

Anatel is contacting San Francisco-based Fastly and Brazil's EdgeUno on Thursday to confirm if those platforms are providing unlawful access to X, the person familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Anatel reached Cloudflare on Wednesday, and the company agreed to collaborate with Brazilian authorities, the person said, adding that the suspension of services would not jeopardise access to other networks that may use the same cloud service.