Brazil Supreme Court denies X's request to reactivate services in country over fine payment error

In an effort to get back online in Brazil, the social media platform X has made an effort to pay fines owed to the government.

However, according to a leading news agency, Brazil's Supreme Court has not yet lifted the site's prohibition, saying that the fines were transferred into the incorrect bank account.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes said, "The deposit of the amount of 28,600,000 reais [$5.24 million] was not made correctly in the account linked to these proceedings."

Earlier, X had submitted a request to carry on operations in Brazil, claiming to have settled its penalty.

“X Brasil requests that the platform be unblocked for free access by its users in national territory,” reads the filed document.

In Aug, after the website disregarded court orders pertaining to content filtering and in-country legal representation, it was halted.

The case has spurred discussion about free speech rights and how to stop the spread of incorrect information online.

However, the payment is the most recent indication that X might be easing up on its opposition to the conditions necessary to operate in Brazil, which is one of the site's main user bases.

As of April, X reportedly has over 21 million users in Brazil, according to analytics firm Statista.

When X disregarded the court orders earlier this year, it was fined more than $5 million.

The social media giant was asked by the Supreme Court to take action against accounts associated with disinformation and far-right individuals who are said to have harmed Brazil's elections.

It further pointed out that X did not designate a legal representation within the nation, which is a prerequisite for foreign-based businesses.

Musk, the owner of X, initially looked ready to fight the suspension, calling it censorship and charging de Moraes with giving "illegal orders."

Musk, a supporter of far-right politics, also referred to de Moraes as an “evil dictator cosplaying as a judge” when X was told to tighten its control of misleading statements on its platform.

Earlier, Musk commented on Brazilian politics and offered support for former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who has also disagreed with de Moraes over fabricated election allegations.

Musk has presented himself as an advocate for free speech, but since the billionaire bought the social networking platform X, he has been largely complying with orders from the authorities to remove content.

During the first half of Musk's ownership, X agreed with roughly 99% of demands from nations like Turkey and India, raising concerns that governments would be silencing their critics on the platform.

X has been courting the Brazilian authorities to get its suspension lifted in recent weeks.

The website asked for user access to be restored after restricting access to many accounts connected to false material in Sep and taking action to designate legal counsel in the country.

The ban, enacted by Brazil’s Supreme Court, prompted a substantial increase of users to Bluesky, which topped the iPhone app charts in Brazil as the most popular free app.

Bluesky, a decentralized social media platform founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, has seen an unprecedented rise in downloads following Brazil’s ban.