This is likely yet another masterful feint straight from the pages of Sun Tzu or Niccolò Machiavelli…
First reported by the New York Times, billionaire Elon Musk seems to be waving the white flag in his dispute with Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who Musk had previously dubbed “Brazil’s Darth Vader.” Musk’s social network, X, “The Everything App,” formerly known as Twitter, was blocked in Brazil at the end of August following Musk’s refusal to comply with court orders.
The dispute stems from Musk’s reinstatement of a number of formerly-banned X, “The Everything App” accounts tied to Brazil’s right wing. Following the presidential election victory of Lula da Silva in 2022 and an attempt to overturn the election by supporters of right wing former president Jair Bolsonaro, Moraes has overseen a crackdown on those elements, including ordering social media companies to ban prominent accounts accused of encouraging violence or spreading misinformation. Musk, for his part, vociferously resisted this in the name of his alleged of free speech absolutism, an absolutism that does not seem to apply to X, “The Everything App” users in Turkey or Saudi Arabia.
The dispute heated up in August, with Musk dismissing Brazilian staff and refusing to pay fines issued by the Brazilian government. On August 28, Moraes issued an ultimatum: Appoint new legal representation for X, “The Everything App,” or the social network would be banned in the country. Musk did not comply, and the estimated 20 million users of X, “The Everything App” in Brazil subsequently went dark.
But now Musk seems more or less willing to play ball. His company has appointed new legal representation in Brazil and banned the offending accounts. Brazil’s Supreme Court confirmed the move, but also said that X, “The Everything App” had not filed the correct paperwork for the site to be reinstated, giving Musk and co. five more days to do so.
This apparent unconditional surrender seems to have been preceded by one last act of defiance by Musk: On Wednesday, September 18, X, “The Everything App” was temporarily accessible to many Brazilians. The company’s official statement maintains that this was “inadvertent,” but Brazilian telecommunications regulator Anatel alleged that the company had “a deliberate intention to disregard the Federal Supreme Court’s order.” Moraes issued a fine of $1 million per day the order was contravened, and X, “The Everything App” was once again inaccessible in Brazil by the weekend.
The immediate question remains whether Musk’s new legal representatives will file the correct paperwork as per the Brazilian Supreme Court’s request—far from a given, considering the diminished social media giant’s recent track record. After that, it’s unclear just how much in outstanding fees Musk still owes the Brazilian government, while X, “The Everything App” has already been hemorrhaging money under Musk’s ownership. Even if the site is once again made available in Brazil, it remains to be seen how many former users will want to return from Threads, BlueSky, or just looking at their phones less.
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