The 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.
BRASILIA – Elon Musk-owned social media platform X has named a legal representative in Brazil, the firm’s lawyers said on Friday, in a move that would address one of the demands imposed by Brazil’s top court to allow the company to operate in the country.
Andre Zonaro and Sergio Rosenthal, who were recently appointed as X’s lawyers in Brazil, told Reuters that colleague Rachel de Oliveira Conceicao was chosen as the firm’s legal representative and that they had submitted her name to the Supreme Court.
Brazilian law requires foreign companies to name 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 in the country.
In late August, Brazil’s top court ordered mobile and internet service providers to block X in the nation, and users were cut off within hours after X did not name a new legal representative.
The move followed a months-long dispute between Musk and Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes over the firm’s non-compliance with court orders demanding the platform take action against the spread of hate speech.
Courts have previously blocked accounts implicated in probes of spreading misinformation and hate, which Musk has denounced as censorship.
On Thursday, the lawyers representing X in Brazil said the firm was starting to comply with orders on removing content, another demand from the top court.
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Reporting by Ricardo Brito in Brasilia; Writing by Andre Romani; Editing by Kylie Madry and Shri Navaratnam
