SAO PAULO — A ruling from Brazil’s Supreme Court has mandated that X, the social media platform, pay a fine of 8.1 million Brazilian reais (approximately $1.4 million) for not adhering to judicial orders. This decision, which was formalized on Wednesday and released to the public on Thursday, indicated that X had not provided the registration information for a profile linked to Allan dos Santos, a supporter of former President Jair Bolsonaro who faces allegations of disseminating misinformation.
In a ruling issued in July 2024, Justice Alexandre de Moraes instructed both X and Meta to take action against the account belonging to dos Santos, including blocking and banning it while also submitting the data requested. X reported that it had indeed blocked the account, but claimed it could not furnish the necessary information. The platform contended that the data had not been collected and asserted that the user had “no technical connection point with Brazil.”
Justice de Moraes dismissed these claims and, in early August, levied a daily penalty of 100,000 Brazilian reais ($17,500) against X for its noncompliance. By October, the accumulated fines for failing to comply reached a total of 8.1 million Brazilian reais. Although X filed an appeal against this ruling, it later informed the court of its intention to settle the fine. The justice’s recent ruling demands that X pay the entire sum without delay, although it remains unclear if the company submitted the requested registration data, according to the reviewed court decision.
The company has not responded to requests for comment concerning this ruling. It is important to note that last year, De Moraes had directed the suspension of X’s operations across the nation after the company announced plans to withdraw its Brazil-based staff, claiming that De Moraes had threatened legal actions against its local representative. Brazilian law mandates that foreign firms maintain a local legal representative to ensure they receive court notifications and respond accordingly, especially in instances such as X’s, where accounts must be taken down promptly.
After a lapse of a month, the social media platform was allowed to resume operations following compliance with directives to block specific accounts, appoint a legal representative in Brazil, and pay previous fines resulting from earlier noncompliance with court orders. Throughout this period, Elon Musk, the owner of the platform, and De Moraes, known for his opposition to the former President Jair Bolsonaro, engaged in ongoing disputes concerning issues like free speech, far-right accounts, and the spread of misinformation. Musk famously referred to the judge as an adversary of free speech and a criminal, yet De Moraes’ rulings have consistently been supported by his colleagues, including the order to block X’s operations nationwide.
