Brazil’s Supreme Court has unfrozen bank accounts associated with Elon Musk’s Starlink and social media platform X after around 18.35 million Brazilian reals (about $3.3 million) were transferred to the state treasury, Cointelegraph reported.
The fines stem from X's failure to comply with a court order to block accounts accused of spreading false information and hate speech. The Supreme Court had previously classified such content as a threat to democracy, prompting legal action against the platform.
Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes fined X for failing to appoint a local legal representative, as required by Brazilian law. Despite the settlement of the financial penalty, X remains blocked in Brazil since August 30.
The case has been brought to the Brazilian Attorney General’s Office (PGR) in the past few days, following a challenge to the platform’s ban by the Brazilian Bar Association and the political party Partido Novo.
On September 12, the PGR argued that the suspension of social media platforms did not violate the right to freedom of expression and stressed that the lawsuit against the ban lacked legal merit.