X paid its pending fines to wrong bank, delaying return, court says
A costly error prolongs X's suspension in Brazil, further complicating its legal battle with the country over misinformation and compliance.
ADVERTISEMENT
The ongoing saga between social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) and Brazil took another turn on Friday as Brazil's Supreme Court declared that X had mistakenly paid its fines to the wrong bank. The error could further delay X's reinstatement in Brazil, Reuters reported.
In August, Brazil's highest court banned X from operating in the country after the company failed to appoint a legal representative locally. This came on the heels of X's refusal, under the ownership of Elon Musk, to comply with Brazil's orders to remove accounts spreading misinformation and pay associated fines. Musk referred to the orders as acts of censorship, escalating tensions between the platform and the government.
The standoff, however, appeared to ease in September when X quietly conceded to Brazil's demands. Musk's team agreed to remove misinformation-spreading accounts, appoint a local representative, and settle fines to comply with the court's ruling. Yet, complications persisted, particularly around the fines.
Brazil's Supreme Court ruled in late September that X would need to pay an additional $5 million in fines on top of the $3.3 million already paid if the platform hoped to be reinstated.
On October 4, X filed a formal request for its suspension to be lifted, claiming it had settled all penalties. However, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes revealed that the payments were sent to the wrong bank, stalling the reinstatement process. Justice Moraes added that the issue must be rectified before Brazil's prosecutor general can review X's request.
In response, X's legal team reportedly denied that the fines - which now total around $5.24 million - were misdirected and argued that the prosecutor general's opinion was unnecessary for the platform to resume operations in Brazil, according to court documents viewed by Reuters.
