On September 21, the Brazilian Supreme Court asked the digital platform X for documents validating its new legal representative in the country after the firm’s lawyers finally indicated its intention to comply with court demands and the country’s legislation. X’s representatives sent all documents on September 26, saying they fulfilled all the determined requirements. Elon Musk, the billionaire and owner of the social platform, and millions of Brazilian X’s users are now waiting to see the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the platform’s activity in the country.

“Freedom is the first victim of a world without any rules,” said Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in his opening speech of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 24.  “Essential elements of sovereignty include the right to legislate, to adjudicate disputes, and to enforce rules within one’s territory, including the digital environment,” stated the President, referring to the X platform issue.

On September 26, X’s lawyers affirmed that “X has taken all the measures indicated by Your Excellency as necessary to restore the operation of the platform in Brazil.” However, Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes has not yet answered X’s request. There is no estimated timeframe for how long this process can take, considering that Moraes could ask for more documents before deciding.

In case of an affirmative answer, it is possible to expect a reduction of tensions between Musk and Moraes as platform X returns to its activities in the country, following Brazilian legislation. Social platforms must respect the country’s sovereignty to maintain a good and diplomatic relationship with the host country. However, this was different from Musk’s approach in the beginning.

On August 30, Alexandre de Moraes opted to suspend the social platform X in Brazil after Musk had closed the firm’s office in its territory. The main reason was based on the lack of an official X’s representative in Brazil, an obligation stated in the Brazilian legislation. Such a decision followed months of a long dispute between Musk and Moraes over the billionaire’s non-compliance with court orders.  On one side, Moraes was asking the platform to act against the spread of hate speech and fake news, as stated by the Brazilian legislation, whereas, on the other side, Musk was threatening X’s non-compliance to legislative orders, denouncing such actions as censorship.

Recently, during a significant climbdown, Musk seems to have taken a step back, opening space for compliance with Supreme Court decisions. “Musk was afraid to lose market share, he also realized that this was a nonsense battle and that Brazilians were not turning their backs on Justice Alexandre de Moraes as he had expected,” said Thiago de Aragão, a senior researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

As an official Supreme Court decision is still yet to come, X’s activities in Brazil remain uncertain. Such high-profile disputes can strain diplomatic relations, especially when involving accusations of interference in domestic affairs or violations of national laws. With X’s recent commitment to restore the platform’s operation in the country, one can expect the cooling down of tensions and an ending in the dispute between Moraes and Musk.