Brazil lifted its ban on the social network X on Tuesday after its owner, Elon Musk, capitulated in his fight with the country’s Supreme Court, ending a five-week suspension of the platform across the nation of 200 million.
Brazil’s Supreme Court said X had complied with the court’s orders to take down certain accounts, which the court called necessary to protect Brazil’s democracy and which Mr. Musk called illegal censorship. The company also complied with other orders, including paying fines and naming a new representative in the country.
X’s compliance was a stark reversal for Mr. Musk, who had loudly criticized and defied the court for months, going so far as to publish its sealed orders and to close X’s offices in Brazil. The court responded by blocking X across Brazil in August, sending millions of Brazilians to the platform’s competitors.
But now, X is returning in Brazil and obeying orders that Mr. Musk had vowed to resist. X said in a post on Tuesday that “giving tens of millions of Brazilians access to our indispensable platform was paramount throughout this entire process.” It added that it would “continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law, everywhere we operate.”
Justice Moraes on Tuesday gave regulators 24 hours to let X come back online in Brazil, though it could take more time for the site to return.
The apparent resolution to the monthslong battle represented a defeat for Mr. Musk, who has styled himself as an outspoken defender of free speech. His company lost a month of business in one of its biggest markets, allowing rivals to gain a foothold there, only to end up exactly where it began.
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