Elon Musk taps out in X fight

After a long — and often tiresome — political, judicial, and philosophical feud over the use of X (formerly Twitter) in Brazil, the proxy battle between Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and tycoon Elon Musk has seemingly reached its conclusion, with Mr. Moraes on top. 

This week, the ban was finally lifted and the social media network is once again operational in Brazil.

In previous discussions, The Brazilian Report highlighted how the platform was hemorrhaging users, not only losing its entire Brazilian user base but also seeing significant drops in key markets such as the United Kingdom and the U.S. 

It appears that pressure from investors — directed largely at Musk — forced the company to comply with the regulations set by Justice Moraes to resume the platform’s operations in the country.

That process, however, was not a smooth one.

After navigating a series of bureaucratic steps, X mistakenly transferred the payment for its remaining fines to the wrong bank account — prolonging the ban even further.

X not only lost a large share of its users during the ban, but also missed out on Brazil’s critical municipal election campaign, which would undeniably have turned the social network into a stage of intense political discussions and information. 

The big question now is whether the platform can regain its audience, especially after so many Brazilians migrated to Bluesky— an alternative platform reminiscent of what Twitter used to be before Musk’s takeover (read: a more healthy, secure social media environment). 

Will X be able to reclaim its users? Will Bluesky merely serve as a fallback option when other platforms experience downtime? One thing is certain: the idea that social media platforms are not above the law in Brazil has been firmly reinforced, despite the controversy surrounding it.

Check out the creation of this cartoon here on The Brazilian Report’s TikTok account (@brazilianreport).

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