Musk’s X pays $5.2M to wrong account, intended for Brazilian legal fine
X account of Elon Musk in seen blocked on a mobile screen in this illustration after Brazil's telecommunications regulator suspended access to Elon Musk's X social network in the country to comply with an order from a judge who has been locked in a months-long feud with the billionaire investor, Sao Paulo, Brazil taken August 31, 2024. (Reuters Photo)
Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has paid $5.2 million in fines to Brazil, aiming to resolve a legal battle over disinformation. However, the payment, intended to settle the issue, ended up in the wrong account, according to Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
Moraes, who ordered the platform’s shutdown in Brazil in August, confirmed on Friday that although X transferred the full amount of the fines, it deposited the funds into an incorrect account. The mistake has delayed the resolution of the high-profile dispute, as Moraes has now directed the funds to be immediately redirected to the proper account specified in the court order.
The fines were imposed after X failed to comply with multiple court orders, including the removal of accounts spreading disinformation and the appointment of a new legal representative in Brazil. X, formerly known as Twitter, was blocked in Brazil on August 31, following Musk’s refusal to take down dozens of right-wing accounts accused of promoting false information.
The financial error adds a new twist to the ongoing conflict between Musk’s platform and Brazilian authorities, drawing additional attention to the case, which has become a global focal point in the fight against disinformation. X had briefly resumed operations in Brazil in mid-September, only to go offline again after further threats of penalties from Moraes.
Despite the account mix-up, X hopes that settling the fines, once the payment reaches the correct destination, will mark the end of the legal standoff. The platform, which had 22 million users in Brazil before the ban, has since appointed a legal representative as required by the court, signaling its efforts to resolve the situation and resume service in its largest Latin American market.
