Brazil’s Supreme Court has informed it is lifting a ban on X (the social media platform owned by tech magnate Elon Musk). In his verdict, Justice Alexandre de Moraes stated that he authorized the “immediate return” of X’s activities in the nation after it paid hefty fines and blocked accounts accused of misinformation spreading. As per a statement, the social networking site has paid fines totaling 28 million reais ($5.1m; £3.8m) and agreed to appoint a local representative, mandatory under Brazilian law.

Moraes had blocked access to Elon Musk owned platform in Brazil after its refusal to ban several profiles deemed by the Brazilian government to be spreading misinformation about the 2022 Presidential election. Brazil’s telecoms watchdog Anatel has been instructed to ensure service is resumed for more than 20 million users in the nation within 24 hours.

After disobeying the court’s orders for months, Musk fired the company’s Brazilian staff in late August and shut X’s office in Brazil. “The decision to close X offices in Brazil was difficult,” said Musk, who also runs rocket company SpaceX and EV maker Tesla. A self-proclaimed “free-speech absolutist”, the billionaire tech magnate had described Justice Moraes’ order to ban several dozen accounts as a violation of free speech and an abuse of power. Some days later, Justice Moraes ordered for the entire platform to be blocked across the nation. Many users switched to alternative sites such as Bluesky, and demand for VPNs (Virtual Proxy Networks) in Brazil soared.

But in September, the platform started to obey the court’s orders in an apparent U-turn. On Tuesday, X conveyed that it was “proud to return to Brazil”. “Giving tens of millions of Brazilians access to our indispensable platform was paramount throughout this entire process,” government affairs team of Brazil wrote in a statement. It seems that X has now conformed with all of the judge’s demands so as to have the ban lifted. Brazil is among the biggest markets for the platform across the world, as well as its largest in Latin America, with an estimated 22 million users.

As per the local media reports, on Oct. 7 X cleared the latest obligation on its path to returning online. The final payment was confirmed post a series of uncommon events. On Oct. 4, the funds linked to the penalties levied by Justice Alexandre de Moraes for irregularities on the social network were erroneously deposited into the wrong bank account. Last Monday, the proceeds paid by Starlink (Musk’s satellite company), were transferred to the correct account.