X returns to Brazil after Elon Musk complies with court orders

Unlock Editor's Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Brazil's top court on Tuesday approved the restoration of public access to Elon Musk's

The drop represents a reversal for Musk, who had teased the court for months, accusing Judge Alexandre de Moraes of being a “dictator” for demanding that X remove accounts linked to far-right groups in Brazil.

“This dispute with

“Although many people have tried to portray this as a free speech issue, it ultimately boils down to sovereignty, a country's ability to regulate services and technology according to law,” Belli added.

Access to

Musk had left the office weeks earlier

For much of this year, Musk publicly egged Moraes on social media, calling for his impeachment and posting mock photos of the judge in prison.

The actions made the billionaire a hero among many on the Brazilian right who believe a long-running crusade by the judge against disinformation and extremism online has gone too far.

However, a month after the ban, had bypassed.

X also agreed to remove the accounts that provoked the feud between the judge and the billionaire in the first place.

Before lifting the ban, Moraes released bank accounts and assets linked to both X and Musk's satellite internet provider Starlink.

The latter had been frozen because Moraes viewed Starlink as part of a “de facto economic entity” with X.

Starlink is a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX, in which Musk owns about 40 percent of the shares but has 79 percent of the voting rights.

Before the ban, X had around 20 million users in Brazil, making it the ninth most popular social media platform, well behind Instagram and TikTok.

After the ban, millions of Brazilians flocked to Bluesky, a similar microblogging site that reportedly has 10 million users worldwide.