Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraeshas ordered social networking platform X to pay a fine of 8.1 million Brazilian reals ($1.4 million) for failing to comply with previous court orders.
The court ruling stated that the platform refused to provide registration data for a profile attributed to Allan dos Santos , who is accused of spreading false information.
In July 2024, De Moraes ordered both X and Meta to block the account from their platforms and provide the data. X said it had blocked the account but could not hand over the requested informationbecause its operators did not collect it and the user “had no technical connection point to Brazil.”
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The judge, however, rejected the argument and, in early August, imposed a daily fine of 100,000 Brazilian reais ($17,500) if X did not provide the data. By October, the total fine for non-compliance had reached 8.1 million reais. X appealed but later announced that it would pay the fine. In the new ruling, the court ordered the company to pay the full amount immediately.
X vs Brazil
Last year, Judge De Moraes also ordered the closure of X in the country. The suspension was put in place because Elon Musk, the owner of X, defied the Brazilian court's requests and failed to ban certain user accounts or remove content deemed to violate federal laws.
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Brazil has some strict regulations regarding the Internet. These aim to limit the spread of hate speech and disinformation , and prohibit incitement to violence and the display of content that is harmful to democratic institutions. In addition, the country requires technology platforms to employ a legal representative in Brazil to be informed of court decisions and take any necessary action quickly.
However, Musk did not comply with the above regulations. He reportedly closed X’s headquarters in Brazil and said he would not employ a legal representative there for some time. In addition, the billionaire mocked de Moraes, comparing him to the evil wizard from the Harry Potter films, Voldemort, calling him a “fake” judge and speaking of “Moraes’ evil tyranny.”
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The platform returned a month later, after complying with orders to block certain accounts from the platform, name an official legal representative, and pay fines.
Source: abcnews.go.com
