CEO Elon Musk has been in a months-long dispute with a Brazilian judge over content censorship on X. The disagreement resulted in a nearly $1 million fine for X…

Billionaire Elon Musk has not shied away from any “fight” since he bought Twitter (later renamed X) in 2022, according to Business Insider.

Mr Musk’s approach to content moderation – which he says he is simply advocating for free speech – has faced challenges in countries including Australia, Nigeria, Türkiye and India.

Now, this issue is putting billionaire Musk in conflict with Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre De Moraes.

In the past, Brazil’s judiciary has “dueled” tech companies like WhatsApp and Telegram. However, the disagreement over X censorship has since exploded, leading to concerns such as arrests of X employees and restrictions on most other companies owned by Mr. Musk.

Brazil’s Supreme Court recently made the latest move in its battle with X: It fined the platform nearly $1 million for briefly resuming operations despite an ongoing ban.

The fine comes as most of Mr Musk’s other companies gradually comply with the ban.

In early September, aerospace technology company Starlink agreed to comply with a court order to block access to X in Brazil, which has the platform’s fifth-largest user base.

BRAZILIAN OFFICIALS censor social media

Judge De Moraes began tightening free speech regulations several years ago when he opened an investigation into “fake news” during the tenure of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

On the one hand, X challenged that it would consider complying with the order “when possible legally,” while on the other hand, X also agreed to remove more than 100 accounts flagged for hate speech, misinformation, and misrepresentation of democracy.

Billionaire Musk has frequently spoken out against Mr. De Moraes’s stance, publicly expressing concerns about the judge, calling Mr. De Moraes a dictator and calling for him to “resign.”

Although X initially agreed to comply with the ban, Musk later announced via a post on X in April that he would reverse the restrictions, stressing that “principles are more important than profits.”

Judge De Moraes then announced that Musk would be investigated for obstruction of justice after refusing to delete the offending account, and confirmed that Musk would face a fine of around $20,000 for each reactivated account on X, according to a report from French publication AFP.

JUDGE DE MORAES INCREASES SENTENCE

Most of X’s offices in Brazil have been closed since August 17.

Elon Musk closed most of X’s offices in Brazil on August 17 after Judge De Moraes threatened to arrest the company’s legal representative, according to a statement from X’s Global Affairs team.

X was then officially banned in Brazil from August 31 when it failed to appoint a new legal representative. The court confirmed that the ban would remain in effect until the more than $3 million fine was paid and the company had legal representation.

Mr. De Moraes’ order is based on Brazilian law, which requires foreign companies to have a legal representative operating in the country. This ensures that there is someone who is informed of legal decisions and has the capacity to take the necessary action.

Judge De Moraes also threatened fines of nearly $9,000 a day for anyone in the country who tries to access X using a VPN, the network Mr Musk recommends users.

In addition, Starlink’s bank account in this country was also frozen since August 29 to enforce X’s fines because the company is related to Mr. Musk’s ownership, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Starlink is known to currently provide satellite internet service to more than 200,000 customers in Brazil.

“The ban is based on the unfounded determination that Starlink is liable for the fine imposed on X,” Starlink said in a post on X, adding that it plans to take legal action.

In addition, Mr. Musk noted that SpaceX and X are two separate companies with different shareholder groups, and that “this punishment is not right for shareholders and the Brazilian people.”

After initially refusing to block X, Starlink has slowly changed its stance. Earlier this month, the company said it would comply with the order to block access to X in Brazil.

“Despite the unfair treatment of Starlink by freezing its bank account, we are still complying with the order to block access to X in Brazil,” said a Starlink representative.

The company also said it would “pursue all avenues” to fight the ban. Starlink’s parent company, SpaceX, did not respond to a request for comment.

According to the BBC, Brazil fined X after some users were still able to access the website despite the ban issued in August. The company explained that the short-term restoration of some accounts was unintentional and continued to block them after a few hours.

However, the court imposed a fine of nearly $1 million a day on the platform for violating the ban.