The Brazilian Supreme Court on Saturday asked Elon Musk-owned social platform X to present documents validating its new legal representation in the country, as the firm’s lawyers now say it will comply with court demands to be allowed to resume operations in Brazil, Reuters reported.
X was shut down in Brazil in late August after it did not comply with orders from the top court related to hate speech and moderation in the social platform.
But in the last few days, X representatives have started to publicly vocalize intentions to address the court demands, even though the firm had previously said it would not meet them.
X lawyers said late on Friday that the platform had named a legal representative in Brazil, addressing a key demand imposted by the court.
In a Saturday decision, the Supreme Court judge Alexander de Moraes gave five days for X to provide commercial registries and other documents proving that X formally signed Rachel de Oliveira Conceicao as its Brazil legal representative
Brazilian law requires foreign companies to have a legal representative to operate in the country. The representative would assume the legal responsibilities for the firm locally.
Engadget reported X is reportedly reversing course after weeks of refusing to comply with conditions set by the Brazilian Supreme Court that would allow it to operate in the country again.
According to The New York Times, the company’s lawyers said in a Friday court filing that X has named a legal representative in Brazil as demanded by justice Alexandre de Moraes and removed accounts that the judge had identified as a threat to democracy, along with paying the fine it owed. But the publication also reports that the Brazil Supreme Court has said X did not submit all the necessary paperwork, and now has five days to do so.
The paperwork X failed to submit is that which would prove it formally appointed a legal representative in Brazil, as required by Brazlilian law, according to Reuters. The company has been working to restore service to users in Brazil after it was blocked at the end of August, and briefly came back online earlier this week using Cloudflare’s DNS. But, it said that this was “inadvertent and temporary.”
In a statement, an X spokesperson said at the time, “While we expect the platform to be inaccessible again in Brazil soon, we continue efforts to work with the Brazilian government to return very soon for the people of Brazil.
Mashable reported Elon Musk blinked first in a high-profile game of chicken between the tech billionaire and Brazil’s government.
Musk’s X quietly complied with demands from Brazil’s Supreme Court in a court filing Friday night, The New York Times reported. The hope is Brazil will soon lift its nationwide ban of the social media platform.
Now, all of a sudden, Musk has given in, according to The Times. The company’s lawyers reportedly noted that X had taken down the accounts in question, paid the required fines, and named a formal representative for the country.
In my opinion, it is good for the people of Brazil to once again have access X’s platform. Imagine how annoying it would be to wait for a billionaire to decide when he will comply with Brazil’s law regarding social media.