Elon Musk, the self-styled champion of free speech, has retreated – after weeks of defiance, where he declared war on Brazil’s Supreme Court, following its ban on his social media platform for disobeying the court’s orders.
Now, Musk’s social network, X, has finally bowed to the demands it once vowed to resist, according to the New York Times.
It’s an unexpected move. Musk, a figure known for his relentless bravado and penchant for controversy, had refused to comply with orders to take down accounts that a Brazilian justice claimed were undermining the country’s democracy. In the midst of this standoff, Musk fired local employees, shuttered X’s offices in Brazil, and refused to pay the mounting fines. His stance was clear: no censorship, no compliance.
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But things have changed
The signs emerged on Wednesday when the Supreme Court’s main justice in this matter, Alexandre de Moraes said in a court filing that X had hired new lawyers in Brazil – a shift from the company’s earlier stance, when it refused to obey the Supreme Court order to name its legal representatives.
Late Friday night, X’s legal team quietly filed papers with Brazil’s Supreme Court, revealing that the company had, in fact, complied with the justice’s orders. The accounts that had stirred the ire of the court? Taken down. The fines that Musk scoffed at? Paid. The representative that the company had been dragging its feet to appoint? Finally in place. A concession, plain and simple.
The Times quoted one of those lawyers, Sérgio Rosenthal, saying in a text message on Thursday that X planned to comply with all of the judge’s orders to take down accounts. “The goal is to regularize the company’s situation in Brazil,” he said.
It also noted a different lawyer, André Zonaro Giacchetta, on Saturday morning, saying the conditions to return to Brazil “have already been met, but it depends on the assessment of” Brazil’s Supreme Court.
This is not the image Musk cultivated. The tech magnate, who often frames himself as a gladiator for free speech, especially on his social media platform, now finds himself cornered in a fight he cannot win. And while Musk remains silent on the matter, the paperwork tells a different story: one of a man and a company outmaneuvered.
Brazil’s Supreme Court wasn’t interested in Musk’s flair for the dramatic. Moraes has been steadfast in his mission to keep the country’s democracy from being undermined by online disinformation. He didn’t hesitate to block X across Brazil when Musk refused to comply with orders to remove accounts Moraes deemed threatening to the state.
For Musk, this is not the first time his ideals have clashed with the realpolitik of governing bodies. X has similarly bent the knee to authorities in India and Turkey. But in Brazil, the stakes were higher. X has around 20 million users in the country, a crucial market that Musk couldn’t afford to alienate any longer. Meanwhile, users flocked to rival platforms like Threads and Bluesky, eroding X’s influence with each passing day of the blackout.
And that wasn’t the only complication. Brazil’s Supreme Court had seized $2 million from Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink, to cover X’s fines. Musk’s ambitions in Brazil were becoming costly, not just for his social network but for his other ventures as well.
Yet, even in defeat, Musk couldn’t help but indulge in theatrics. On Wednesday, X briefly resurfaced in Brazil, bypassing the court-ordered block in what Brazil’s telecom regulator described as a “deliberate disregard” for the Supreme Court’s ruling. Musk took to X, posting cryptically: “Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology,” he said.
It was a wink, a sleight of hand that suggested the return was something mystical rather than a calculated move. But the court wasn’t amused. Moraes promptly imposed a hefty $1 million per day fine and re-blocked the platform.
Now, Musk faces a difficult reality. X remains inaccessible in Brazil, one of its largest markets, and any hope of regaining traction hinges on the country’s Supreme Court lifting the ban. For all of Musk’s bluster, the power of nation-states has proven formidable.
It’s also a blow to the right-wing commentators in Brazil who had previously rallied behind Musk’s refusal to comply. Figures like Paulo Figueiredo, a prominent pundit who had his account blocked, hailed Musk as a hero for standing up to Brazil’s judiciary. But after the filing, Figueiredo lamented Musk’s capitulation, calling it “a sad day for freedom of expression.”
Musk’s allies, once loyal and admiring, are now left to reconcile their disappointment with their admiration for the man who promised to defy the system but ultimately fell in line.
This entire episode has been a boon for Justice Moraes. Since 2019, he has been a central figure in Brazil’s battle to regulate online speech, ordering the removal of hundreds of accounts that he argues pose a threat to Brazil’s democracy. His actions have been divisive, seen by some as an essential safeguard and by others as overreach. But in this clash with one of the world’s most influential tech moguls, Moraes has emerged victorious.
Musk, for his part, will no doubt continue to rail against government overreach and censorship, but the reality is hard to ignore: even the most powerful tech platforms can be brought to heel when faced with the authority of a state determined to protect its interests.
As X remains blocked, Musk’s once-defiant posture seems less like the stand of a free-speech warrior and more like a costly miscalculation. And in Brazil, at least for now, the voice of the state is louder than the voice of the platform.