Why Has Brazil Banned X?
X played a heavy role in spreading fake news and misinformation in Brazil, especially during former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro's term from 2019 to 2022.
If you have any mutuals in Brazil on Twitter, grab their other social media handles cause Twitter has been completely shut down there.
On Friday, Aug. 30, Brazil’s supreme court ordered X, formerly known as Twitter, to be suspended after the company failed to provide a legal representative in Brazil.
X, like other social media platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp, has played a heavy role in spreading fake news and misinformation in Brazil, especially during former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro's term from 2019 to 2022.
In April 2024, a Brazil supreme court judge opened an investigation against X after it failed to suspend multiple accounts for spreading misinformation.
The list of accounts wasn't made public, but the Supreme Court judge leading the investigation, has been looking into fake news and misinformation accounts during Bolsonaro's presidency and his supporters' attack on the Brazilian Capitol in 2023.
In response, X’s new owner Elon Musk accused the court of “censorship” and , X closed its offices in Brazil on Aug. 17, while still keeping the platform operating.
Under Brazilian law, foreign companies must appoint a legal representative in order to operate in the country, so on Thursday Aug. 29, the court gave Musk 24 hours to name a legal representative.
However, after he failed to do so, Brazil's supreme court then asked its telecommunications regulator to order internet service providers to block access to X.
By Sunday Sep. 1, many people in Brazil said they were unable to access X, while people in other countries were “bidding farewell” to Brazilians on X .
Now, people in Brazil who are found to access X using a VPN could be fine up to 50,000 reais or about $9,000 US dollars per day, according to Reuters.
Prior to the ban, about 22 million people in Brazil were registered users on the platform.
X can be reinstated in Brazil if the company names a legal representative and pays outstanding fines that amounted to more than $3 million US dollars as of the end of August.
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