Echoing Elon Musk, the politicians claim they are defending free speech.
By LAÍS MARTINS and DANIELA DIB
16 SEPTEMBER 2024 • SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL
Many left-wing and progressive politicians in Brazil migrated to Bluesky after X was banned, but at least a dozen right-wing politicians are still active on X.
Experts say this online split between right- and left-leaning users in Brazil could prove problematic.
Brazil’s Supreme Court banned X on August 30 after the company failed to comply with a court order to appoint a local legal representative.
The decision was the culmination of a months-long feud between Elon Musk, X’s owner, and Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who is leading a forceful campaign against political disinformation.
Overnight, Brazil’s 22 million X users no longer had access to the platform. Those who log on using VPNs risk fines of up to 50,000 reais a day (around $9,000). This hasn’t stopped prominent right-wing politicians in Brazil from continuing to post to protest the ban.
Rest of World has identified a dozen right-wing politicians, including the sons of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who are still active on X. They are mostly challenging the court’s decision and attacking de Moraes on the platform. In her recent posts on X, Carla Zambelli, a federal congresswoman, has repeatedly urged members of congress to call for de Moraes’ impeachment. Marcel van Hattem, a federal deputy, has drawn attention to other controversial rulings by de Moraes.
All together, these 24 politicians are followed by 26 million users on X. Eduardo Girão, a senator from the state of Ceará, told Rest of World that right-wing and independent members of Parliament are coordinating to continue posting on the platform.
“I will continue posting because I believe it’s disrespectful to the Constitution to curtail a platform where the entire world is connected,” Girão said.
The politicians characterize Judge de Moraes as a dangerous authoritarian who is threatening free speech. “Hi, Kamala. I see you enjoy talking about dictators. I’m currently forced to use a VPN to post on X at the moment and I may be fined for this cause we are in an actual dictatorship in Brazil right now. What do you have to say about Lula & the Brazilian [sic] Supreme Court?” Federal Deputy Nikolas Ferreira posted three days after the ban.
Left-wing and progressive politicians in Brazil are largely migrating to Bluesky, a competing microblogging platform. About 85% of Bluesky’s new users since August 30 have come from Brazil. But right-wing politicians are gaining support on X. Ferreira shared that within just a few days of the ban, he gained about 60,000 new followers. “The tirants [sic] tried to silence us and ended up spreading our voices to the world,” he posted.
This online split between right- and left-leaning users in Brazil could prove problematic, according to Nina Santos, director of Aláfia Lab and coordinator of Desinformante, a research laboratory studying the impact of the digital world, online racism, and disinformation.
“This phenomenon could be very dangerous in terms of building a common space for debate.”
“If we move in the direction of having platforms more identified with the left and platforms more identified with the right, this phenomenon could be very dangerous in terms of building a common space for debate,” Santos told Rest of World.
Despite de Moraes’ threat to identify users employing VPNs, doing so is not easy. In an article for The Intercept Brazil, Isabela Fernandes, the executive director of Tor Project, which offers free software that enables anonymous browsing and communication, called the VPN fines “unenforceable.” Fernandes said that such a decision would require the cooperation of VPN providers with Brazilian courts and that many services, including Tor, don’t even store user data.
VPNs and anonymous browsers are commonly used to circumvent bans on online platforms — especially in authoritarian contexts. In 2021, Myanmar’s military junta ordered mobile operators and internet service providers to block access to X, then called Twitter, after a military coup. However, millions of citizens kept posting. According to a report from Access Now, the Myanmar police have resorted to conducting random phone checks. If they find a VPN app, they may arrest the phone’s owner under anti-terrorism laws.
In the case of Brazil, the ban on X was issued from the judiciary rather than executive or military rulers.
Santos, the disinformation researcher, thinks it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will backtrack on its decision.
On September 2, a group of four other Supreme Court justices voted to uphold de Moraes’ unilateral decision. “It also seems that X is not willing to renegotiate,” she added. In the long run, even users with VPNs are likely to fall off. “As more time passes, it seems to me less likely that people will make an effort to be on that platform.”
Laís Martins was a Labor x Tech Reporting Fellow at Rest of World based in São Paulo, Brazil.
Daniela Dib is a reporter for Rest of World covering the tech and startup scene in Latin America. She is based in Mexico City.
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