Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the lawyers for social networking site X failed to pay pending fines to the correct bank, postponing a decision on whether the company may continue operations in the country.
Elon Musk’s X has been suspended in Brazil since late August due to noncompliance with hate speech moderation orders and failure to hire legal representation, as required by law.
Earlier on Friday, X submitted a request to reinstate its services, claiming that all outstanding fines were paid.
However, Justice Alexandre de Moraes requested that the money be made to the relevant bank account.
X, formerly known as Twitter, received a $5.2 million fine for failing to comply with a series of court rulings.
Moraes stated that the social network paid the whole sum, although into a different account than the one specified in the court order, and that the cash had been quickly rerouted.
However, X’s legal team stated that the fines were paid correctly.
The overdue dues are the only hurdle to the platform’s reinstatement in Brazil.
The legal battle began in April when the court ordered the suspension of various accounts allegedly involved in spreading falsehoods.
X has an estimated user base of 20 million in Brazil, and by Saturday morning, users reported that access to the platform was blocked.
We earlier reported that X’s head of global affairs recently submitted his resignation from the social media powerhouse.
Nick Pickles, who spent a decade with the firm formerly known as Twitter, announced in a release that he decided to depart a few months ago and has since been working with Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X, to navigate the transition.
