Reinstating Twitter in Brazil may take longer than anticipated after millions of dollars in fines were mistakenly sent to the wrong bank account. Under Elon Musk’s leadership, Twitter has encountered numerous challenges, with the platform facing criticism for recent changes and experiencing more severe consequences.
Since late August, Twitter has been suspended in Brazil for failing to comply with court orders regarding hate speech moderation and not appointing a legal representative in the country, as required by law. Brazil is a significant market for Twitter, leading the company to work on resolving the issue.
According to Reuters, settling the fines is the final step before Twitter can resume operations in Brazil. On October 4, Twitter requested that its services be restored, claiming it had paid all outstanding fines. However, a payment error occurred during the process.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes requested that the payment be directed to the correct bank account and stated that once the fines are settled, Brazil’s prosecutor general would review Twitter’s legal submissions.
Justice Moraes highlighted that Twitter had mistakenly paid the 28.6 million reais ($5.24 million) in fines to the wrong bank, delaying a resolution. Twitter’s legal team disputed this, asserting that the payments were made correctly and arguing that further input from the prosecutor general was unnecessary.
Twitter recently shut down its Brazilian office after its representative faced the threat of arrest for noncompliance with court orders. The company has labeled the legal actions as “censorship” and claims they are illegal under Brazilian law.
Musk and Twitter have also accused Justice Moraes of political bias, noting his previous orders to block accounts spreading misinformation, primarily those of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters. The order imposed steep penalties for Brazilians who tried to evade the ban, including a daily fine of nearly $9,000 for using VPNs to access Twitter—an amount that exceeds many citizens’ annual income.