On September 19, 2024, Brazil's Supreme Court imposed a fine of $920,000 on Elon Musk's social media platform X for operating in the country after a complete service shutdown. This decision follows a prior court order that prohibited X from functioning in Brazil due to its refusal to remove accounts associated with far-right extremists accused of spreading misinformation.
Brazilian internet service providers reported that users briefly regained access to X due to an automatic app update that switched the platform to Cloudflare's cloud service, using constantly changing IP addresses. This made it difficult for the government to enforce the ban, as the same IP addresses are used by various other services, including banks and government websites.
However, on the same day, X ceased its use of Cloudflare, resulting in the platform becoming inaccessible once more. Company representatives described the incident as 'unintentional' and expressed hopes of restoring service soon while continuing discussions with the Brazilian government.
In late August, the Supreme Court ordered X to shut down its operations in Brazil, imposing a fine of 5 million Brazilian reais (approximately $920,000) for each day of non-compliance. Additionally, assets belonging to Musk's companies in Brazil were frozen for potential penalty collection.
Elon Musk is also under investigation in Brazil for allegations related to obstruction of justice, organizing a criminal enterprise, and incitement to crime.