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Musk’s X to be reinstated in Brazil after complying with demands
SAO PAULO | The Brazilian Supreme Court’s Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Tuesday authorized the restoration of social media platform X´s service in Brazil, over a month after its nationwide shutdown, according to a court document that was made public.
Elon Musk’s X was blocked on Aug. 30 in the highly online country of 213 million people — and one of X’s biggest markets, with estimates of its user base ranging from 20 to 40 million. De Moraes ordered the shutdown after a monthslong dispute with Musk over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Musk had disparaged de Moraes, calling him an authoritarian and a censor, even though his rulings, including X’s suspension, were repeatedly upheld by his peers.
Despite Musk’s public bravado, X ultimately complied with all of de Moraes’ demands. They included blocking certain accounts from the platform, paying outstanding fines and naming a legal representative in the country. Failure to do the latter had triggered the suspension.
“The resumption of (X)’s activities on national territory was conditioned, solely, on full compliance with Brazilian laws and absolute observance of the Judiciary’s decisions, out of respect for national sovereignty,” de Moraes said in the court document.
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Just two days before the ban, on Aug. 28, X said it was removing all its remaining staff in Brazil “effective immediately,” saying de Moraes had threatened with arrest its legal representative in the country, Rachel de Oliveira Villa Nova Conceição, if X did not comply with orders to block accounts.
Brazilian law requires foreign companies to have a local legal representative to receive notifications of court decisions and swiftly take any requisite action — particularly, in X’s case, the takedown of accounts. Conceição was first named X’s legal representative in April and resigned four months later. The company named her to the same job on Sep. 20, according to the public filing with the Sao Paulo commercial registry.
In an apparent effort to shield Conceição from potential violations by X — and risking arrest — a clause has been written into Conceição’s new representation agreement that she must follow Brazilian law and court decisions, and that any legal responsibility she assumes on X’s behalf requires prior instruction from the company in writing, according to the company’s filing.
Conceição works for BR4Business, a business services firm. Its two-page website provides no insight into its operations or staff. “Something great is on its way,” the top of the site’s main page reads in English. Its other page is an extensive privacy policy.
At three of its listed Sao Paulo offices, receptionists told the AP that the company’s offices are empty and employees work remotely. Neither Conceição nor BR4Business returned multiple phone calls and emails from the AP.
There is nothing illegal or suspect about using a company like BR4Business for legal representation, but it shows that X is doing the bare minimum to operate in the country, said Fabio de Sa e Silva, a lawyer and associate professor of International and Brazilian Studies at the University of Oklahoma.
“It doesn’t demonstrate an intention to truly engage with the country. Take Meta, for example, and Google. They have an office, a government relations department, precisely to interact with public authorities and discuss Brazil’s regulatory policies concerning their businesses,” Silva added.
Indeed, it is rare for an established, influential company such as X to have only a legal representative, said Carlos Affonso Souza, a lawyer and director of the Institute for Technology and Society, a Rio-based think tank. And that could be problematic going forward.
“The concern now is what comes next and how X, once back in operation, will manage to meet the demands of the market and local authorities without creating new tensions,” he said.
Some of Brazilian X’s users have migrated to other platforms, such as Meta’s Threads and, primarily, Bluesky. It’s unclear how many of them will return to X. In a statement to the AP, Bluesky reported that it now has 10.6 million users and continues to see strong growth in Brazil. Bluesky has appointed a legal representative in the South American country.
Brazil was not the first country to ban X — far from it — but such a drastic step has generally been limited to authoritarian regimes. The platform and its former incarnation, Twitter, have been banned in Russia, China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Venezuela and Turkmenistan. Other countries, such as Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt, have also temporarily suspended X before, usually to quell dissent and unrest.
X’s dustup with Brazil has some parallels to the company’s dealings with the Indian government three years ago, back when it was still called Twitter and before Musk purchased it for $44 billion. In 2021, India threatened to arrest employees of Twitter (as well as Meta’s Facebook and WhatsApp), for not complying with the government’s requests to take down posts related to farmers’ protests that rocked the country.
Musk’s decision to reverse course in Brazil after publicly criticizing de Moraes isn’t surprising, said Matteo Ceurvels, research firm Emarketer’s analyst for Latin America and Spain.
“The move was pragmatic, likely driven by the economic consequences of losing access to millions of users in its third-largest market worldwide, along with the millions of dollars in associated advertising revenue,” Ceurvels said. “Although X may not be a top priority for most advertisers in Brazil, the platform needs them more than they need it.”
Small business disaster loan program running out of funds
NEW YORK | The Small Business Administration could run out of money to fund disaster loans in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastation.
As is typical after a disaster, the government is offering aid to small businesses that were in Helene’s path. The SBA is offering disaster loans for small businesses in some counties in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
But President Joe Biden said in a letter to Congress Friday that aid could run out “in a matter of weeks” if more federal funding is not approved. And now another hurricane, Milton, is bearing down on Florida,
In a statement, the SBA said that it will continue sharing information about its disaster loan programs and assisting borrowers with initial processing and servicing loans. But if funding lapses, all new offers would be held back and delayed until program funding is replenished.
“We look forward to working with Congress to secure the federal resources necessary to ensure the SBA can continue funding affordable disaster loans for homeowners, renters, small businesses, and nonprofits,” said U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman. “Americans should not have to wait for critical assistance when they need it the most.”
As it stands, business owners can apply for two different types of disaster loans. Business physical disaster loans are for repairing or replacing disaster-damaged property, including real estate, inventories, supplies, machinery and equipment. Businesses of any size are eligible. Private, non-profit organizations such as charities, churches, private universities, etc., are also eligible. Businesses have until the end of November to apply for these loans.
Economic injury disaster loans are working capital loans to help small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and most private, non-profit organizations meet financial obligations that cannot be met as a direct result of a disaster. These loans are intended to assist through the disaster recovery period. The deadline for these loans is June 30, 2025.
Businesses can access loans up to $2 million. Interest rates are as low as 4% for businesses and 3.25% for nonprofit organizations.
The SBA also offers disaster loans up to $500,000 to homeowners to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $100,000 to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed personal property.
Business owners can apply for these loans at https://lending.sba.gov/search-disaster/. And more information can be found at https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance/hurricane-helene.
States are offering their own assistance programs too. For example, the Florida Department of Commerce is offering the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program, making $15 million available for businesses impacted by Hurricane Helene. Eligible small businesses may apply for loans of up to $50,000 through the program.
McDonald’s sues top meat packers for colluding to inflate prices
NEW YORK | McDonald’s has some beef with today’s largest meat packers.
The fast food giant is suing the U.S. meat industry’s “Big Four” — Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef Packing Company — and their subsidiaries, alleging a price fixing scheme for beef specifically. In a federal complaint, filed Friday in New York, McDonald’s accused the companies of anticompetitive measures such as collectively limiting supply to boost prices and charge “illegally inflated” amounts.
This collusion caused the beef market to become “a monopoly in which direct purchasers were forced to buy at prices dictated by (the meat packers),” McDonald’s suit reads — later noting that the injury it has sustained as one of those buyers is what “antitrust laws were designed to prevent.”
McDonald’s alleges that the meat packers’ conspiracy dates back nearly a decade, at least as early as January 2015, and continues today. Its suit argues these companies’ actions violate the Sherman Act, a federal antitrust law.
Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. But these companies have faced federal probes and allegations of price fixing before.
Lawsuits filed by grocery stores, ranchers, restaurants and wholesalers have piled up over the years. Some litigation is still pending, although meat packers and processers have opened their wallets in the past.
In 2022, for example, JBS agreed to a $52.5 million settlement in a similar beef price-fixing lawsuit. And Tyson agreed to pay $221.5 million back in 2021, after facing class-action claims that alleged purposely inflated chicken prices.
Such settlements did not include admissions of wrongdoing, however. Meat processors have previously maintained that larger supply and demand factors out of their control, not anticompetitive behavior, has caused prices to go up. Meat processing plants were occassionally closed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, and the industry has also faced labor shortages that were worsened by the pandemic.
Still, lawsuits like the one from McDonald’s point to increased profit margins during the alleged time of conspiracy — and argue that overall concentration of the market helps facilitate collusion.
“Conspiracies are easier to organize and sustain when only a few firms control a large share of the market,” McDonald’s suit reads. Data from recent years has showed that Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef control more than 80% of the U.S. beef market combined, the suit notes.
McDonald’s is seeking a trial by jury. The Chicago-based chain, which did not immediately respond to a request for further comment Tuesday, has more than 39,000 locations across over 100 countries worldwide, including about 13,000 in the U.S. The vast majority are franchised.
—From AP reports
