Brazil, dwelling to greater than 21 million customers, suspended X after it didn’t adjust to courtroom orders and pay fines.
The social media web site X, previously often called Twitter, has tried to pay fines owed to the Brazilian authorities in a bid to renew companies within the nation.
However the Reuters information company reported on Friday that Brazil’s Supreme Court docket has but to elevate the positioning’s suspension, saying the charges had been deposited into the mistaken checking account.
“The deposit of the quantity of 28,600,000 reais [$5.24m] was not made accurately within the account linked to those proceedings,” Supreme Court docket Justice Alexandre de Moraes mentioned.
The announcement was the most recent hiccup in an ongoing spat between X proprietor Elon Musk and the Brazilian authorities.
Earlier within the day, X had filed a request to renew operations in Brazil, on the idea that it had paid its fines.
“X Brasil requests that the platform be unblocked free of charge entry by its customers in nationwide territory,” the filed doc states.
The positioning was suspended in August after it didn’t adjust to courtroom orders relating to content material moderation and in-country authorized illustration.
The case has sparked debate over free speech and what steps may be taken to handle the unfold of false claims on-line.
The cost, nevertheless, is the most recent signal that X could also be stress-free its opposition to the necessities for working in Brazil, one of many web site’s largest sources of customers.
The information agency Statista says that X had greater than 21 million customers in Brazil as of April.
X confronted fines of greater than $5m for its failure to adjust to the courtroom orders earlier this 12 months.
The Supreme Court docket had requested the social media firm take motion to limit accounts linked to misinformation and far-right figures accused of undermining Brazil’s elections.
It additionally mentioned X didn’t appoint a authorized consultant within the nation, a requirement for firms based mostly overseas.
At first, Musk and X appeared poised to withstand the suspension, denouncing it as censorship and accusing de Moraes of issuing “unlawful orders”.
Musk, who has embraced far-right politics, additionally known as de Moraes an “evil dictator cosplaying as a choose” after X was ordered to extend its moderation of false claims on its web site.
The billionaire entrepreneur has beforehand weighed in on Brazilian politics, expressing assist for former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro — one other determine who has clashed with de Moraes over false election claims.
Whereas Musk has portrayed himself as a champion of free speech, X has usually develop into extra accommodating to authorities requests to take down content material for the reason that billionaire purchased the social media web site.
Experiences point out X complied with almost 99 p.c of requests from nations like Turkey and India through the first six months of Musk’s possession, spurring fears that governments might be silencing their critics on the platform.
In current weeks, X has made overtures to the Brazilian authorities in a bid to elevate its suspension.
In September, the positioning restricted entry to a collection of accounts linked to misinformation and took steps to nominate authorized representatives within the nation, asking for person entry to be reinstated in return.
