Brazil is on the verge of Barring X
Brazilian users might encounter some challenges in accessing this story, especially if they rely on Elon Musk's platform X for their news. This is due to a court order issued in the country, effectively banning the social media network. The ban stems from a prolonged dispute over the boundaries of free speech on the platform, which was previously recognized as Twitter.
The conflict between X and the Brazilian government began in April, when Musk reactivated certain popular Brazilian accounts that the government had previously ordered to be blocked for disseminating misinformation. These orders followed the far-right riots that occurred on January 8, 2023, and it is suspected that the targeted accounts were connected to the unrest. Since then, the Brazilian judiciary has been actively combating disinformation online, branding it as a "significant hazard" to the nation.
Musk promptly reinstated the suspended accounts just an hour after they were taken down.
In the subsequent weeks, tensions between Musk and Brazil have escalated on numerous occasions. Thus far, the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has frozen Starlink's financial operations in the country. The X ban is a consequence of an incident in which Musk closed X's Brazilian offices, claiming de Moraes had threatened to arrest X's legal representative in Brazil if they did not comply with his censorship orders.
The Brazilian Supreme Court issued a warning on Wednesday that X could not circumvent its orders so easily, threatening to shut down X's operations in the country if a new legal representative was not appointed within 24 hours. Companies operating in Brazil are required to have legal representatives, and X is not an exception. Both Telegram and WhatsApp have previously faced similar bans for defying their own court orders.
X's deadline for appointment of a new legal representative has expired, and according to reports from Bloomberg and local news outlet Poder360, Judge de Moraes has ordered the National Telecommunications Agency to limit Brazilian access to X within 24 hours. Furthermore, Judge de Moraes has given Apple and Google five days to remove X from their respective app stores. Brazilian outlet G1 Globo reports that the judge will impose daily fines on individuals or businesses that continue to access the site using VPNs during the blockage.
Musk's response has continued to emphasize the "censorship" narrative, stating, "Free speech is the foundation of democracy, and an unelected judge in Brazil is intentionally destroying it for political reasons." X's formal response, provided before the ban but written with the expectation of its implementation, was less confrontational, merely arguing that Judge de Moraes' demands are not in compliance with Brazilian law and asserting its intention to not adhere to the orders.
The future developments of the situation remain unclear, but X users in Brazil can prepare for potential downtime by downloading their tweets and signing up for an alternative to X.
Despite Elon Musk's efforts to defy the Brazilian Supreme Court's orders, including reinstating banned accounts and closing X's Brazilian offices, the tech giant now faces a complete ban on its operations in the country. This 'X ban Brazil' could significantly impact tech-reliant Brazilians who use X for news, as they may struggle to access certain stories due to this court-ordered restriction.
