'X' logo is seen on the top of the headquarters of the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, California, U.S., July 30, 2023. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
BRASILIA (Reuters) -The Brazilian Supreme Court on Saturday asked Elon Musk-owned social platform X to present documents validating its new legal representative in the country, as the firm's lawyers now say it will comply with court demands to be allowed to resume operations in Brazil.
X was shut down in Brazil in late August after it did not comply with orders from the top court related to hate speech moderation in the social platform.
But in the last few days, X representatives have started to publicly vocalize intentions to address the court demands, even though the firm had previously said it would not meet them.
X lawyers said late on Friday that the platform had named a legal representative in Brazil, addressing a key demand imposed by the court.
In a Saturday decision, Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes gave five days for X to provide commercial registries and other documents proving that X formally signed Rachel de Oliveira Conceicao as its Brazil legal representative.
Brazilian law requires foreign companies to have a legal representative to operate in the country. The representative would assume the legal responsibilities for the firm locally.
X had a legal representative in Brazil until mid-August, when it decided to close its offices and fire its staff in the country.
The move followed a months-long dispute between Musk and Moraes over the firm's non-compliance with court orders demanding the platform to take action against the spread of hate speech, which the billionaire denounced as censorship.
Besides the indication of a legal representative, Brazil's top court also required X to block certain accounts investigated in a hate speech and misinformation probe, and to pay fines amounting over $3 million as conditions to lift the ban.
At first X had said it would not comply with the "illegal" orders, but now its lawyers said the platform will pay the fines it owes, and that it has also started to block the ordered accounts.
It was not immediately clear which were the accounts X has been ordered to block, as the probe is confidential.
Despite the ban, X became accessible to many users in Brazil on Wednesday for a limited period of time after an update to its communications network bypassed the court-ordered block.
($1 = 5.5143 reais)
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito in Brasilia; additional reporting and writing by Andre Romani in Sao PauloEditing by Alistair Bell)
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