A Brazilian court has fined Elon Musk’s companies after social networking site X was temporarily made available again in the country earlier this week.
Brazil has fined Elon Musk’s companies after some users were able to briefly access X, despite it being banned in the country last month.
The social media platform updated how its servers within the country were accessed earlier this week, prompting users to swarm the site, but it was blocked again hours later following the unintentional restoration.
But on Thursday (19.09.24), a Brazilian court fined X and Musk’s internet satellite firm Starlink five million reais for breaching the ban, with Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes accusing the companies of having committed a “trick” in re-enabling access for some users.
However, it is unclear if the court can enforce payment of the fine or will continue to seek payment now the platform has been return to its previous servers.
Musk’s firms have previously ignored court orders from Brazil, including the one which led to X being banned last month.
The platform explained the sudden brief access this week came about when a change of network providers “resulted in an inadvertent and temporary service restoration to Brazilian users”.
A spokesperson added: “While we expect the platform to be inaccessible again in Brazil soon, we continue efforts to work with the Brazilian government to return very soon for the people of Brazil.”
Elon Musk companies receive fine in Brazil
