Brazil Orders X to Pay $1.4 Million Fine

On February 20, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered X to pay a fine of 8.1 million Brazilian reais (approximately $1.4 million USD). The penalty was imposed for the platform’s failure to comply with judicial orders, according to a public ruling.

“The company X Brasil Internet Ltda., through its duly appointed lawyers, is hereby notified to immediately make full payment of the fine imposed due to non-compliance with court decisions, in the amount of R$8,100,000.00,” wrote Moraes. X has stated that it will pay the fine “despite its disagreement” with the decision.

The decision comes after a legal battle that started in July 2024, when de Moraes ordered both X and Meta to block and provide registration data for profiles associated with Allan dos Santos. Dos Santos is a YouTuber and close ally of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazil’s Supreme Court is currently investigating dos Santos for several offenses. Authorities suspect he spread disinformation and threatened court ministers. He is also accused of undermining democratic institutions and financing anti-democratic acts, according to Brazilian newspaper G1.

X complied with the order to block dos Santos’s account but refused to provide the registration data. It argued that it didn’t collect this information and that the user had “no technical connection point with Brazil.” The court rejected this defense, and in August, imposed a fine of 100,000 Brazilian reais (about $17,500 USD) per day for non-compliance. By October, the total had reached 8.1 million reais.

De Moraes and X’s owner Elon Musk have a longstanding rivalry, with Musk calling the Supreme Court Justice a “dictator” and a “criminal.” Last year, de Moraes ordered X to be shut down nationwide after the platform failed to comply with a separate set of court rulings related to account suspensions for disinformation.

Though the company originally declined to comply with the court’s orders, calling them “illegal,” it eventually gave in, leading to X’s reinstatement across the country shortly afterward.

X has recently found itself at the center of various legal procedures regarding disinformation worldwide. Earlier this month, German activists won a lawsuit against X requiring the company to share data on misinformation ahead of the parliamentary elections.