*

Supreme Court imposes 5-million-real fine for bypassing

block

*

Musk's X claims network switch caused temporary service

restoration

*

Anatel working to block X's access through Cloudflare and

other

platforms

(Adds X lawyer declining comment in paragraph 6, adds telecom

agency's efforts in paragraphs 8-11)

BRASILIA, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Brazil's Supreme Court

ordered Elon Musk-owned X not to circumvent a previous ruling

suspending the social media platform in the country, at risk of

a daily fine of 5 million reais ($921,726.95), according to a

decision issued late on Wednesday.

X became accessible to many users in Brazil on Wednesday

after an update to its communications network bypassed the

court-ordered block. A 5-million-real fine has already been

imposed because of that action, according to the decision.

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.

"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".

Brazilian law office Pinheiro Neto Advogados, which is

representing X in the Brazilian Supreme Court, declined to

comment on Thursday.

Courts have previously blocked accounts implicated in probes of

allegedly spreading misinformation and hate, which Musk has

denounced as censorship, and they have ordered X to name a local

representative as required by Brazilian law.

The national telecommunications agency Anatel said in a

statement that it is working to block X's access in Brazil

through Cloudflare, the content delivery network the platform

used to circumvent the block. This will likely happen by the end

of Thursday, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Other platforms, such as Fastly and EdgeUno, may have also been

tapped by X to bypass the law, according to authorities.

Anatel is contacting San Francisco-based Fastly and Brazil's

EdgeUno on Thursday to confirm if those platforms are providing

unlawful access to X, the person familiar with the situation

told Reuters.

Anatel reached Cloudflare on Wednesday, and the company agreed

to collaborate with Brazilian authorities, the person said,

adding that the suspension of services would not jeopardize

access to other networks that may use the same cloud service.

($1 = 5.4246 reais)