X seeks Brazil comeback, retreats on 'censorship' feud

In a major climbdown, Elon Musk’s X told Brazil’s Supreme Court it had complied with orders to stop the spread of misinformation and asked a judge to lift a ban on the platform, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The billionaire had held out for more than five months against what he called “censorship” in a feud with a judge in one of X’s largest and most coveted markets. The court shut Brazilians’ access to the platform in late August.

A decision from the court on X’s return is still pending, but people close to Musk in Brazil believe service could be restored in a matter of days.

Late on Thurday, X said access to the site in Brazil “is essential for a thriving democracy” and that it respects the sovereignty of the countries in which it operates.

“We will continue to defend freedom of expression and due process of law through legal processes,” the company’s global affairs team added in a post on the platform.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has spearheaded a local crusade against perceived attacks on democracy and the political use of disinformation, banned the platform formerly called Twitter after Musk shuttered X’s offices in Brazil.

The judicial battle eventually affected another prominent business controlled by Musk, satellite Internet provider Starlink, whose accounts de Moraes froze in a move leading Musk to brand him a “dictator.”

The Brazil spat was just one of a series of recent face-offs between Musk, who views himself as a champion of free speech, and governments including Australia and the UK seeking to prevent the spread of online misinformation.

Brazil was X’s sixth-biggest market globally, with about 21.5 million users.

“Musk was afraid to lose market share, he also realized that this was a nonsense battle and that Brazilians were not turning their backs on Justice Alexandre de Moraes as he had expected,” said Thiago de Aragao, a senior researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

In a final attempt at circumventing Moraes’ ban, X used cloud services offered by third parties, allowing Brazilians to access its platform in spite of the prohibition, but the attempt was short-lived, especially after Moraes threatened to impose heavy fines on the company.

Late last week, X moved in a more conciliatory direction, appointing a local legal representative as Moraes had demanded.

In the document sent to the Brazilian Supreme Court, the company controlled by Musk said it had blocked nine accounts under investigation in a hate speech and misinformation probe.

“His backtracking is very positive. Whether one agrees with it or not, the law is to be respected not defied,” Rubens Barbosa, a former Brazilian ambassador to the United States, told Reuters.

According to two people familiar with Musk´s thinking, the billionaire will take a very different approach once X comes back to Brazil, adding he may still be combative but will likely try to respect the law. “From now on, he will fight in the courts,” one of the people said.

X did not reply to a request for comment.