X names Brazil legal representative, its lawyers say

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – 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.

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.

The shutdown followed a months-long dispute between Musk and Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes over X’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 allegedly spreading misinformation and hate, which Musk has denounced as censorship, and had also ordered X to name a local legal representative as required by Brazilian law, after the firm closed its offices in Brazil in mid-August.

On Thursday, the lawyers representing X in Brazil said the firm would present a legal representative to the local Supreme Court “very soon.”

They also said the firm was starting to comply with the orders on removing content, which is another demand from the top court.