RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) 鈥� The social media platform X began returning to Brazil on Wednesday, after remaining inaccessible for more than a month due to a on the country鈥檚 highest court.
Internet service providers began restoring access to the platform after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Tuesday.
鈥淭WITTER IS ALIVE,鈥� Lucas dos Santos Consoli, known as luscas on X, wrote on the platform to his more than 7 million followers.
鈥淚'm happy that the platform decided to follow the laws of Brazil and finally adapted, after all I鈥檝e been using the app for almost 15 years so I can鈥檛 deny that I was missing it,鈥� the 31-year-old told The Associated Press.
De Moraes after a monthslong dispute with Musk over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Musk had disparaged de Moraes, calling him an authoritarian and a censor, although his rulings, including X鈥檚 nationwide suspension, were repeatedly upheld by his peers.
Musk鈥檚 company ultimately complied with all of de Moraes鈥� demands. They included blocking certain accounts from the platform, paying outstanding fines and naming a legal representative. Failure to do the latter had triggered the suspension.
鈥淭his sends a message to the world that the richest person on the planet is subject to local laws and constitutions,鈥� said David Nemer, who specializes in the anthropology of technology at the University of Virginia. It could set a precedent as to how other countries that are clashing with Musk 鈥� 鈥� could move forward, as it shows Musk is not unbeatable, he added.
Brazil 鈥� a highly online country of 213 million people 鈥� is one of X鈥檚 biggest markets, with estimates of its user base ranging from 20 million to 40 million.
鈥淴 is proud to return to Brazil,鈥� the company said in a statement posted on its Global Government Affairs account. 鈥淕iving tens of millions of Brazilians access to our indispensable platform was paramount throughout this entire process. We will continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law, everywhere we operate.鈥�
Julia Bahri, an 18-year-old law student, said she was delighted with X's return. She said that losing access to the platform had led to 鈥渙ne of the most desperate feelings I鈥檝e experienced for a while,鈥� adding that she had felt lost with regards to news.
Bahri said she uses X to express herself, whereas Instagram and Snapchat are mostly for posting photos.
The Aug. 30 ban came two days after the company said it . X said de Moraes had threatened to arrest its legal representative in the country, Rachel de Oliveira Villa Nova Concei莽茫o, if the company did not comply with orders to block accounts.
Brazilian law requires foreign companies to have a local legal representative to receive notifications of court decisions and swiftly take any requisite action 鈥� particularly, in X鈥檚 case, the takedown of accounts.
Sleeping Giants Brazil, a platform for activism that seeks to combat fake news and hate speech, said the resumption of X's activities in Brazil marked 鈥渁 significant victory for Brazilian democracy.鈥�
鈥淚t is crucial to remain steadfast against efforts to weaken democratic state authority, institutions and values,鈥� it said in a statement.
Some of , such as Meta鈥檚 Threads and, primarily, Bluesky. It鈥檚 unclear how many of them will return to X.
In a statement to the AP, Bluesky reported that it now has 10.6 million users and continues to see strong growth in Brazil. Bluesky has appointed a legal representative in the South American country.
鈥淣ever get back with your eX,鈥� Paul Frazee, a developer at Bluesky, wrote on the platform on Tuesday.
X is returning to Brazil weaker than it was before the ban, said Nemer, noting that X is now worth less than a fifth than when Musk bought Twitter. The platform has lost a lot of users, especially in Brazil, he said.
Brazil was not the first country to ban X 鈥� but such a drastic step has generally been limited to authoritarian regimes. The platform and its former incarnation, Twitter, have been banned in Russia, China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Venezuela and Turkmenistan. Other countries, such as , Turkey and Egypt, have also temporarily suspended X before, usually to quell dissent and unrest.
X鈥檚 dustup with Brazil has some parallels to the company鈥檚 dealings with the Indian government three years ago, back when it was still called Twitter and before Musk purchased it for $44 billion. In 2021, (as well as Meta鈥檚 Facebook and WhatsApp), for not complying with the government鈥檚 requests to take down posts related to farmers鈥� protests that rocked the country.
Musk鈥檚 decision to reverse course in Brazil after publicly criticizing de Moraes isn鈥檛 surprising, said Matteo Ceurvels, research firm Emarketer鈥檚 analyst for Latin America and Spain.
鈥淭he move was pragmatic, likely driven by the economic consequences of losing access to millions of users in its third-largest market worldwide, along with the millions of dollars in associated advertising revenue,鈥� Ceurvels said.
鈥淎lthough X may not be a top priority for most advertisers in Brazil, the platform needs them more than they need it,鈥� he said.
___
Ortutay reported from San Francisco
El茅onore Hughes And Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press
