Musk's X seeks Brazil comeback, retreats on 'censorship' feud

By Ricardo Brito and Luciana Magalhaes

BRASILIA (Reuters) -Elon Musk's X told Brazil's Supreme Court it has complied with orders to stop the spread of misinformation and asked a judge to lift a ban on the platform, according to a document seen by Reuters, in a major retreat by the billionaire battling "censorship".

A decision from the court on X's return is still pending, but people close to Musk in Brazil believe service could be restored in a matter of days.

The request to resume activities in Brazil, one of X's largest and most coveted markets, followed a series of conciliatory moves by the social media platform signaling a dramatic backdown in Musk's months-long feud with Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

The judge, who has spearheaded a local crusade against perceived attacks on democracy and the political use of disinformation, had shut down Brazilians' access to the platform formerly known as Twitter in late August.

The draconian move followed Musk's decision to shutter X's offices in Brazil as he resisted complying with Moraes' orders.

The judicial battle eventually affected another prominent business controlled by Musk, satellite Internet provider Starlink, whose accounts Moraes froze in a move leading Musk to brand him a "dictator."

The Brazil spat was just one of a series of recent face-offs between Musk, who views himself as a champion of free speech, and governments including Australia and the UK seeking to prevent the spread of online misinformation.

Brazil was X's sixth-biggest market globally, with about 21.5 million users.

"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 Aragao, a senior researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

In a final attempt at circumventing Moraes' ban, X used cloud services offered by third parties, allowing Brazilians to access its platform in spite of the prohibition, but the attempt was short-lived, especially after Moraes threatened to impose heavy fines on the company.

Late last week, X moved in a more conciliatory direction, appointing a local legal representative as Moraes had demanded.

In the document sent to the Brazilian Supreme Court, the company controlled by Musk said it had blocked nine accounts under investigation in a hate speech and misinformation probe.

"His backtracking is very positive. Whether one agrees with it or not, the law is to be respected not defied," Rubens Barbosa, a former Brazilian ambassador to the United States, told Reuters.

According to two people familiar with Musk´s thinking, the billionaire will take a very different approach once X comes back to Brazil, adding he may still be combative but will likely try to respect the law. "From now on, he will fight in the courts," one of the people said.

X did not reply to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Editing by Anthony Esposito, Christian Plumb and Sonali Paul)