Brazilian Supreme Court Reverses X Ban

The Brazilian Supreme Court has reversed its recent decision to ban the soon-to-be Texas-based social media app X in the country.

The initial ban came in late August when Judge Alexandre de Moraes ruled that X should be banned to fight misinformation. Moraes wanted Musk to block specific accounts deemed dangerous, alleging they were part of "digital militias" spreading misinformation and making threats to public officials.

Now, just weeks later, Moraes has reversed the decision. According to CBS, the reversal comes as X has complied with all of Moraes's demands, including settling around $5.2 million in fines.

Musk Announces X Move to Bastrop

Elon Musk announced in July that he would be moving all his remaining companies to Texas after a public feud with California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Last week, he announced that the new X headquarters would be in Bastrop, not Austin.

SpaceX, Musk's spacecraft manufacturing company, already has facilities in Bastrop, where Musk is building the Hyperloop Plaza, envisioned as a work-live community for his employees. This could indicate a further commitment to building work-live environments in multiple locations in Texas.

X Struggling Financially Since Musk Takeover

X is now worth less than it was when Musk bought it. The business titan paid $44 billion for the company, which is now worth $19 billion. A report from The Wall Street Journal has called this the worst merger-finance deal for banks since the 2008-09 financial crisis.

The devaluation can be attributed to various scandals and changes, including a complete rebranding, the addition of built-in AI, a new CEO, advertisers leaving the platform, and Musk suing them in retaliation. The app being banned in Brazil was the latest in a series of high-profile spats before being resolved this week.

Beck Andrew Salgado covers trending topics in the Austin business ecosystem for the American-Statesman. To share additional tips or insights with Salgado, email Bsalgado@gannett.com.