Brazil versus Musk

X “accidentally” unblocked – threat of hefty fine

X owner Elon Musk is at loggerheads with the Brazilian judiciary.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA/AFP/Mauro PIMENTEL, APA/Drew ANGERER)

Following the partial restoration of access to X in Brazil, the country's Supreme Court has threatened Elon Musk's online service with a fine. If X disregards the court order to block access for users in Brazil, a daily fine of five million real (equivalent to around 820,000 euros) will be imposed.

Judge Alexandre de Moraes stated in his ruling that X had behaved "unruly" and had "unlawfully, persistently and deliberately" disregarded the court order to block the service in Brazil.

"Accidentally" opened
On Wednesday, several X users unexpectedly regained access to the service, which had been blocked following a Supreme Court ruling. As the AFP news agency noted, the online service formerly known as Twitter was accessible to some users via the mobile network and Wi-Fi, while other users were still unable to access it.

X stated that this was only "accidental and temporary" and justified the temporary restoration of access with a change of network provider. It also said that the company was continuing to work with the Brazilian government "to be available again very soon" in Brazil.

"Total disregard for justice"
Brazil's Chief Justice Moraes had blocked X at the beginning of September and justified this by stating that owner Musk had "demonstrated his complete disregard for Brazilian sovereignty and especially the judiciary". While Judge Moraes justified the blocking as a measure against disinformation and hate messages, opponents accuse the left-wing Brazilian government of President Inácio Lula da Silva of censorship and abuse of power.

Moraes had previously blocked several accounts on X and its predecessor service Twitter that were suspected of spreading disinformation. These mainly included accounts belonging to supporters of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, who had spread unsubstantiated claims about alleged security flaws in the country's electoral system following his defeat in the 2022 election.

Musk has outed himself as a supporter of the right-wing populist US presidential candidate Donald Trump, who also supports Bolsonaro. Musk himself also regularly publishes messages against a left-wing world view on his X account. For Musk, Judge Moares is an "evil dictator" and "pseudo-judge" who is destroying democracy "for political purposes" because of the ban.