Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has encountered a significant legal and financial obstacle in Brazil. The country’s courts imposed a substantial fine of over $5 million, which must be paid for the platform to resume its services. However, a snafu occurred as the payment was sent to the wrong bank.
Since the end of August, X has been banned in Brazil for failing to comply with laws regulating hate speech and for not having a legal representative in the country. Recently, the company claimed all fines had been paid in a new request to restart services. Yet, the Brazilian court announced that the payment was directed to an incorrect bank.
Consequently, the decision on whether X can continue its operations in Brazil has been postponed. Despite the insistence of X’s lawyers that the fines were paid correctly, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes demanded the payment be transferred to the correct bank.
Brazil’s Attorney General stated that opinions would be given on X’s latest request to reinstate its services. X’s attorneys argued that there was no need for consultation with the Attorney General following Moraes’ decision and sought court approval once again.
In recent weeks, complying with the Supreme Court’s orders, the platform blocked several accounts under investigation and applied for service reinstatement on September 26. Moraes emphasized that the $5 million fine must be paid to lift the sanctions. According to Reuters, X’s lawyers have submitted documents to the Supreme Court showing that they have paid the 28.6 million real ($5.24 million) fine.