Brazil's Supreme Court has delayed its decision on whether to lift the suspension of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, after lawyers representing the company were found to have paid pending fines to the wrong bank.
The platform, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has been suspended in Brazil since late August 2024 for failing to comply with court orders regarding hate speech moderation and the appointment of a legal representative in the country.
X's legal team recently claimed to have settled all outstanding fines, amounting to 28.6 million reais (USD 5.24 million), and requested the court to allow the platform to resume services. However, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes pointed out that the payment had been made to an incorrect bank account. He has ordered the company to rectify the transaction before any further action can be taken.
Despite the court’s directive, X’s lawyers denied that the fines were misdirected and have pushed for immediate restoration of services, arguing that the prosecutor general’s input is unnecessary for lifting the suspension. X has complied with other court orders, including blocking certain accounts under investigation, but the issue of the fine payment remains a critical barrier to the platform's return.
