MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

X appoints legal representative in Brazil

Lawyer Rachel de Oliveira Villa Nova was chosen by Musk's company for the position

Tycoon Elon Musk's social media network X appointed a legal representative in Brazil as requested by Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre De Moraes just before the deadline 9.29 pm deadline, Agencia Brasil reported. The company chose Lawyer Rachel de Oliveira Villa Nova for the position.

Last month, De Moraes banned X nationwide after the company closed its Brazilian office, a mandatory condition for any firm to operate in the country. He also set a US$ 8,900 daily fine for anyone using a virtual private network (VPN) to circumvent the suspension. Since then, Brazil’s X users shifted to Threads and Bluesky.

On Aug. 17, Musk announced the closure of the company's headquarters in Brazil after the network was fined for refusing to comply with the judge's order to take down the profiles of those investigated by the STF for posting content deemed anti-democratic.

On Thursday, De Moraes asked X to send documents registering with the Board of Trade and proving the appointment. He had collected the fines from bank accounts belonging to Internet Service Providers (ISP) Starlink, whose parent company SpaceX is also owned by Musk, albeit partially.