- A Brazilian Supreme Court Judge says X (formerly Twitter) can operate in the region again if it pays a fine.
- The fine is 10 million reais, working out to roughly $1.9 million.
- This new fine is on top of the $3.4 million that the social media platform has already been fined.
Much like its verified account system, X (formerly Twitter) is learning that it needs to pay to play. This as a Brazilian Supreme Court judge, Alexandre de Moraes, says the social media platform must pay a fine, after which it can begin operating in the region immediately.
X has been banned in the South American nation, which is one of its biggest markets globally, for failing to comply with demands to remove accounts that “threatened democracy”.
Whether X will acquiesce remains to be seen, but for now the fine outlined by de Moraes is 10 million reais, which represents $1.9 million.
A relatively small fine in the greater of schemes, but when coupled with the $3.4 million in fines which have already been doled out to X, it starts to add up.
As such, X would need to pay all of the above fines if it wishes to kickstart its operations.
One of Elon Musk’s other companies, Starlink, is also embroiled in the mess involving X. Its accounts too have been frozen in Brazil, but instead of paying a fine, the internet-beaming satellite company must drop its appeal against the payments, de Moraes has ruled.
With other social media platforms, namely Bluesky, seeing a surge in users now that X is not available in Brazil, how much longer it can afford to be blocked in the country remains to be seen.
There is also the issue of setting a precedent that X will need to consider, as fines paid in Brazil may lead other nations to scrutinise the operations of the platform a bit more intensely and rule that it too infringes some rules.
At the time of writing, Musk is yet to speak or post on the matter, but X’s Global Government Affairs account commented on the ongoing situation late last week.
“X is committed to protecting free speech within the boundaries of the law and we recognize and respect the sovereignty of the countries in which we operate. We believe that the people of Brazil having access to X is essential for a thriving democracy, and we will continue to defend freedom of expression and due process of law through legal processes,” it posted.
We will have to see whether that commitment to free speech will also include paying an estimated $5.3 million fine too.
[Image – Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash]
