Brazil, home to more than 21 million users, suspended X after it failed to comply with court orders and pay fines.

Social media site

But Reuters news agency reported on Friday that Brazil's Supreme Court had not yet lifted the block on the website because the fees had been transferred to the wrong bank account.

“The deposit of the amount of 28,600,000 reais (US$5.24 million) was not made correctly in the account linked to this procedure,” said Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

The announcement was the latest hiccup in an ongoing dispute between X owner Elon Musk and the Brazilian government.

Previously, X had filed an application to resume operations in Brazil on the grounds that it had paid its fines.

“X Brasil requests that the platform be released for free access by its users within the national territory,” the submitted document reads.

The site was suspended in August after failing to comply with court orders regarding content moderation and legal representation in the country.

The case has sparked debate about freedom of expression and what steps can be taken to counter the spread of false claims online.

But the payment is the latest sign that X may be relaxing its opposition to requirements to operate in Brazil, one of the site's largest sources of users.

Data firm Statista says X had more than 21 million users in Brazil as of April.

X faced a fine of more than $5 million for failing to comply with court orders earlier this year.

The Supreme Court had ordered the social media company to take action to block accounts linked to misinformation and far-right figures accused of subverting Brazil's elections.

It also said that X had failed to appoint a legal representative in the country, a requirement for companies based abroad.

At first, Musk and

Musk, who has embraced far-right politics, also called de Moraes an “evil dictator masquerading as a judge” after ordering X to increase moderation of false claims on his website.

The billionaire entrepreneur has previously commented on Brazilian politics and expressed support for former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro – another figure who has clashed with de Moraes over false election claims.

While Musk portrays himself as a champion of free speech, X has generally become more accommodating to government requests to remove content since the billionaire purchased the social media site.

X reportedly complied with nearly 99 percent of requests from countries like Turkey and India in the first six months it was owned by Musk, raising fears that governments could silence their critics on the platform.

In recent weeks, X has made overtures to the Brazilian government to lift the suspension.

In September, the site restricted access to a number of accounts linked to misinformation and took action to appoint legal representatives in the country, demanding in return that user access be restored.