X requests it be reinstated in Brazil after complying with judge’s orders, source says
By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA and BARBARA ORTUTAY, Associated Press
SAO PAULO (AP) — In the high-stakes showdown between the world’s richest man and a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, Elon Musk blinked.
Musk’s social media site X has complied with Alexandre de Moraes’ orders and requested its service be reestablished in the country, a source said Thursday.
X complied with orders to block certain accounts from the platform, name an official legal representative in the country, and pay fines imposed for not complying with earlier court orders, his lawyers said in a petition filed Thursday, according to the source, who is familiar with the document. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
On Saturday, de Moraes ordered the platform to submit additional documentation about its legal representative for court review, which the source said has been done.
X was blocked in the highly online country of 213 million people on Aug. 30. De Moraes ordered the shutdown after sparring with Musk for months over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. The company said at the time that de Moraes’ efforts to block certain accounts were illegal moves to censor “political opponents” and that it would not comply. Musk called the judge an enemy of free speech and a criminal.