Brazil's top court justice orders X to pay $1.4 million fine for non-compliance

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered X to pay 8.1 million Brazilian reais ($1.4 million) in fines for failing to comply with judicial orders, according to a judicial ruling.

The ruling, signed on Wednesday and made public by the court on Thursday, said the social media platform refused to provide registration data for a profile attributed to Allan dos Santos, an ally of former President Jair Bolsonaro accused of spreading falsehoods.

In July 2024, De Moraes ordered both X and Meta to block and ban the account and provide the data. X said it had blocked the account but could not deliver the requested information, arguing that its operators didn't collect it and that the user had “no technical connection point with Brazil.”

De Moraes rejected the argument and, in early August, imposed a daily fine of 100,000 Brazilian reais ($17,500) if the social media platform failed to provide the data. By October, the total fine for noncompliance had reached 8.1 million Brazilian reais.

X appealed but later notified the court that it would pay the fine. In Wednesday’s ruling, the justice ordered the company to pay the full amount immediately. It is unclear from the decision reviewed by The Associated Press whether X provided the requested registration data.

The company didn't immediately reply to AP's request for comment.

Last year, De Moraes ordered X's nationwide shutdown after the company said it was removing all remaining Brazil staff in the country, saying de Moraes had threatened its legal representative in the country with arrest. The country's law requires foreign companies to have a local legal representative to receive notifications of court decisions and swiftly take any requisite action — particularly, in X’s case, the takedown of accounts.

The social media was reinstated a month later, after complying with orders to block certain accounts from the platform, name an official legal representative and pay fines imposed for not complying with earlier court orders.

Elon Musk, the social media owner, and De Moraes, a foe of former president Jair Bolsonaro, sparred for months over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Musk called the judge an enemy of free speech and a criminal. But de Moraes’ decisions have been repeatedly upheld by his peers — including his nationwide block of X.