FILE PHOTO: The logo of social media platform X is seen on a mobile phone next to a reflection of Brazil's Supreme Court in this illustration taken August 30, 2024, in Brasilia, Brazil. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo
BRASILIA (Reuters) -Elon Musk's social media platform X will present a Brazil legal representative to the local Supreme Court "very soon", the firm's lawyers said on Thursday, as the company battles a ruling that sought to shut down its operation in the country.
The move would be the biggest step taken by X towards complying with the demands of Brazil's Supreme Court, which issued an order in late August suspending the social media platform over concerns about the spread of hate speech.
Andre Zonaro and Sergio Rosenthal, who were recently appointed as X's lawyers in Brazil, told Reuters the firm has already sent a document to the Supreme Court saying a legal representative will be named.
They added the representative is still in the process of been tapped.
In August, after a months-long dispute between Musk and Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court ordered Brazil's mobile and internet service providers to block the platform, cutting users off within hours.
Despite the ban, X became accessible to many users in Brazil on Wednesday after an update to its communications network bypassed the court-ordered block.
The Supreme Court ordered X on Wednesday not to circumvent its ruling, saying it was at risk of a daily fine of 5 million reais ($921,726.95).
"There is no doubt that X, under Elon Musk's direct command, again intends to disrespect Brazil's Judiciary," Moraes wrote in his latest order, saying the platform had a "strategy" to circumvent the ban.
X said on Wednesday that a switch in network providers had resulted in "an inadvertent and temporary service restoration" in Brazil, adding that it is maintaining efforts to work with the Brazilian government to resume service there "very soon".
The lawyers on Thursday called the event a "technical flaw" that allowed users to access the social media platform in the country.
Courts have previously blocked accounts implicated in probes of allegedly spreading misinformation and hate, which Musk has denounced as censorship.
They have 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.
The lawyers representing X in Brazil said the firm has also started to comply with the orders on removing content.
($1 = 5.4246 reais)
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito and Luciana Magalhaes; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle, Rod Nickel and Sonali Paul)
