On August 30th, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes handed down an order to ban X, notifying the country’s communications agency to limit access to the platform. Now, on October 8th, after X complied with court orders to ban certain accounts and paid its fines, Justice de Moraes has ordered ISPs to unblock X.
The Brazilian justice, who has led the country’s efforts against misinformation, initially opened an investigation into X in April after Musk said he reactivated accounts the platform was ordered to block.
Musk later closed X’s offices in Brazil over claims de Moraes threatened to arrest the company’s local legal representative if the platform didn’t follow “censorship orders.”
If you’re interested in keeping up with this story, check out all the latest news below.
Highlights
Brazil’s FCC gives the order to unblock X
Illustration: The Verge
Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency sent orders to service providers to unblock X, ending a five-week ban of the social media company.
The agency known as Anatel, which is like the country’s FCC, issued the directive today and indicated that each internet service provider is responsible for taking the measures to implement the order, so it could take time for all of the country’s 20,000-plus ISPs to make the switch.
Brazil clears X for return after a monthlong ban
Image: The Verge
On Tuesday, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the country’s telecommunications agency Anatel to unblock X within 24 hours, writing that it has fulfilled “all the requirements necessary for the immediate return of activities.
However, this won’t mean an immediate return to service for the app. As noted by the Brazilian outlet Poder360, Anatel still needs to notify Brazil’s 20,000 different internet service providers to remove the restrictions, which will vary by the system they use.
X paid its fines to the wrong bank, says Brazil’s Supreme Court.
On Friday, the social media company once again asked Brazil to lift its ban on X, saying it had paid the roughly $5 million in fines it owed from its tiff with the nation’s Supreme Court.
But the court said that will have to wait until the money is transferred to the correct bank, reports Reuters.
Brazil orders X to pay one more fine before it can go live.
That reportedly includes a new $1.8 million fine for X having briefly gone live for some users in the country last week.
X has reportedly requested to be able to return to Brazil.
The company already said it would abide by Brazilian Supreme Court orders. Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the X ban on August 30th.
X is capitulating to Brazil’s Supreme Court
Image: The Verge
Brazilian fan account owners might have a reason to rejoice, as X could be returning to Brazil. According to The New York Times, in a court filing Friday night, the company agreed to abide by the Supreme Court’s request in order to have the countrywide ban lifted:
The company has spent the last three weeks fighting the ban and continuing to distribute content from members of the far-right community in Brazil. This led to X being blocked by Brazilian ISPs and eventually trying to get around the blocks with some help from Cloudflare.
Elon Musk is navigating Brazil’s X ban — and flirting with its far right
Image: Maira Erlich / Bloomberg via Getty Images
For more than two weeks, Brazilians have been without access to X. Brazil’s Supreme Court blocked the platform after Elon Musk failed to comply with court rulings. As X evades the ban and Musk’s companies work slowly toward a resolution, the real concern for many isn’t just the absence of social media. It’s Musk’s power play over the government as he backs Brazil’s far right.
X was banned on August 30th after months of back-and-forth between Musk and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The conflict began in April when Musk publicized government requests for information and then removed all restrictions imposed on X profiles by Brazilian court orders. Moraes responded by including Musk in an investigation over organized political disinformation and subpoenaing X’s Brazilian legal representative. Musk abruptly shuttered its local operations, leading Moraes to ban it for violating local laws.
Starlink says it will block X in Brazil
Image: The Verge
Does Threads have the wrong vibe for the displaced Brazilian internet?
In today’s issue of Garbage Day, Ryan Broderick argues that the lively Brazilian community of X users may find a home on Bluesky, but not so much on Threads, whose heavy-handed algorithmically sorted user interface doesn’t click with Brazilian internet culture.
A caveat from The Verge: we still don’t have official numbers on Brazilian sign-ups for Threads over the weekend.
Brazilian Supreme Court panel upholds X ban, while Starlink refuses to comply
Image: The Verge
A panel of five Brazilian Supreme Court justices voted on Monday to uphold a decision (PDF) requiring the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to limit access to X, the service formerly known as Twitter. Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the ban on Friday in response to X owner Elon Musk’s refusal to comply with court orders to block certain accounts and to identify a legal representative in the country. Four other justices have now backed the decision.
Poder360 and O Globo report that three justices, Cristiano Zanin, Flávio Dino, and Cármen Lúcia, fully supported de Moraes’ ruling, while a fourth, Luiz Fux, noted reservations about a fine for people who circumvent the ban with a VPN, saying only people who post criminal messages like those expressing Nazism or fascism should be fined.
Nevertheless, they persisted.
After announcing last week that it would have to “temporarily cease operations” due to the ban of X in Brazil, popular celebrity-watching account @21metgala — which is apparently run entirely by Brazilian admins — is back, with the caveat that its connection is “unstable.”
Bluesky has gained a million new users in the last three days.
The platform posted about the milestone this afternoon, which it crossed after Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered a ban on Elon Musk’s X yesterday as part of an ongoing feud with the platform.
COME (BACK) TO BRAZIL!!!!!
Brazilian fans of musicians, actors, and other celebrities play a huge role in cultivating fandoms online — and it’s unclear what will happen to stan Twitter (X) now that a judge in Brazil has ordered a ban on platform. A Timothée Chalamet updates account has already announced it’ll cease operations, and I bet this won’t be the only unexpected collateral damage.
Brazil’s X ban is sending lots of people to Bluesky
Image: Bluesky
X is currently banned in Brazil following an order from a Supreme Court justice, and Brazilian users seem to be turning to Bluesky, an alternate social network, in droves.
“Brazil, you’re setting new all-time-highs for activity on Bluesky!” the official Bluesky account said in a post.
Judge orders X ban in Brazil
Image: The Verge
A judge in Brazil has ordered the suspension of X after owner Elon Musk failed to designate a new legal representative for the country, according to reports from Bloomberg and local news outlet Poder360.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes told the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to limit access to X within 24 hours and has given Apple and Google five days to remove X from their mobile app stores. The country will also impose daily fines of $50,000 Brazilian real (~$8,900 USD) to people who try to access X through a virtual private network (VPN), as reported by Poder360.
Brazil threatens to suspend X.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes presented Elon Musk with an ultimatum last night: appoint a new legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours or X will be banned.
X says it has closed its Brazilian operation.
The site accuses Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes of a “secret order” to arrest its legal representative if X doesn’t “comply with his censorship orders.” Despite the change, “X service remains available to the people of Brazil.”
X reverses course on Brazil.
Elon Musk’s lawyers have reportedly undercut his free-speech theatrics related to ye old Twitter’s refusal to block accounts as ordered by the country’s highest court. According to Reuters, X’s lawyers said the following in a letter addressed to Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Monday:
“As already communicated to the federal police, X Brasil informs that all orders issued by this Supreme Court and the Superior Electoral Court will continue to be fully complied with by X Corp.”
Elon Musk and Brazil are beefing over X
Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images
Brazil has opened an investigation into Elon Musk over a potential obstruction of justice after the X owner said he reactivated accounts on the social media platform Brazil had ordered the platform to block.
The inquiry opened by Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Sunday follows a string of heated interactions between Musk and the Brazilian government. On Saturday, X’s global government affairs team announced that “court decisions” had forced the platform to block “certain popular accounts” in Brazil and would face daily fines (of up to $20,000, according to The Associated Press) if it failed to comply.