Social network X begins blocking in Brazil: some users can no longer access the app

The blocking of the social network X in Brazil began to take effect early Saturday morning, August 31, hours after a Supreme Court judge ordered its blocking, alleging judicial non-compliance by the platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk.

The suspension of the social network, formerly known as Twitter, was ordered on Friday evening by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has been engaged in a dispute with Musk for months over the limits of freedom of expression.

Access to the website and mobile app is no longer possible for at least some users, AFP noted, pending an official report.

As of midday on Saturday, no official report had been released on the implementation of the suspension, which should be completed in the next few hours.

Those who try to access the portal are met with a message asking them to reload the browser, but are then unable to log in successfully. The application, on its side, no longer generates new content. nor does it allow interactions.

A leading figure in the fight against disinformation in Brazil, Moraes on Friday ordered the “immediate suspension” of X across the country within 24 hours, a ruling that sparked outrage among Musk, a self-proclaimed staunch defender of freedom of expression.

“Freedom of expression is the foundation of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes“, the tycoon reacted on X, who has described the judge as an “evil dictator.”

The judge demanded that the state-owned National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) adopt “all necessary measures” to comply with the ruling against the company, which has 22 million users in Brazilaccording to the specialized portal DataReportal.

The agency reported shortly after the start of compliance with judicial determinations in a country where In the past, other platforms, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, have already been temporarily suspended by court order..

Moraes also warned that Daily fines equivalent to about $9,000 will be imposed on those who try to circumvent the blockade using “technological subterfuges” such as virtual private networks (VPNs).

X is widely used in the largest country in Latin America, with more than 200 million inhabitants, for the dissemination of official information, as well as a recreational, propaganda and debate channel.

“You who arrived by parachute and without luxuries, welcome,” said one Threads user minutes after the blockade began.

The suspension, just over a month before the municipal elections, is in response to an ultimatum issued by Moraes on Wednesday for the platform to appoint a local representative or else face suspension of its activities.

The deadline expired on Thursday, after which X said he expected to be blocked “shortly” for his refusal to comply with the “illegal orders” of the judge to “censor his political opponents.”

The company announced in mid-August that it was closing its operations in Brazil due to the judge’s actions, although it kept the service available to Brazilians.

Moraes based Friday’s ruling on X’s “repeated and conscious” failure to comply with the courts and “his attempt to avoid submitting to the Brazilian legal and judicial system.”

He said the company was trying to “create an environment of total impunity” on Brazilian social media and had become the target of “instrumentalization” by hate groups.

The suspension will remain in effect until the platform complies with court orders, pays outstanding fines and appoints a representative, according to the ruling.

Before the ruling, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva questioned Musk’s “disrespect” for the Brazilian legal system and promoted his accounts on other social networks, including Blueskywhich reported a “huge influx” of new users from Brazil.

“Who does he think he is?” the leftist president told MaisPB radio on Friday morning.

Moraes opened in April a investigation against X accusing her of reactivating accounts whose suspensions had been ordered by local courtsThe network admitted that some of those users managed to circumvent the restrictions.

In recent years, in the name of fighting disinformation, Moraes has ordered the blocking of accounts of ultraconservative Brazilian figures.

This was mainly due to attempts by supporters of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, an admirer of Musk, to discredit the electronic voting system during the presidential elections won by Lula in 2022.

The tycoon, founder of the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the aerospace company SpaceX, is also the subject of a Brazilian justice investigation against “digital militias”, which points to the alleged illegal use of public resources by Bolsonaro and his inner circle to orchestrate disinformation campaigns on the internet during his presidency (2019-2022).