Brazil lifts X ban

Social platform X (formerly Twitter) has been reinstated in Brazil, over a month after its initial suspension.

The country's supreme court yesterday said in a statement (as translated by CNBC) that Elon Musk's company "complied with the conditions stipulated by the rapporteur, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, and the platform may once again be used by Brazilians."

X also shared a post on its Global Government Affairs account, saying: "X is proud to return to Brazil. Giving tens of millions of Brazilians access to our indispensable platform was paramount throughout this entire process. We will continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law, everywhere we operate."

X's ban in Brazil followed an investigation into Musk and the platform's contribution to the spread of hate speech and misinformation that violated the country's federal laws.

Musk refused to comply with Brazil's regulations around the issues, including the necessity to have a legal representative for X in Brazil, which ultimately led to the platform's ban on August 31.

Last month, we talked to Brazilian indie developers about the impact of X's ban on their operations.

Luciana Guerrero, community and social manager at Rogue Snail, told us at the time: "While Twitter/X is an important tool for reaching global audiences, we can't support Elon Musk's disregard for Brazilian laws. The decisions made by our judiciary require him to comply with local regulations, including blocking accounts tied to individuals convicted of spreading misinformation and attacking democratic institutions.

"This isn't about censorship or free speech – it's about upholding legal orders. Making an exception for Twitter/X and allowing Musk to disregard court orders – like failing to block accounts convicted in legal cases – sets a dangerous precedent. It would suggest that major fintech owners can treat our country as a testing ground without accountability."