What you need to know about the X (formerly Twitter) situation in Brazil
Screenshot of the page displayed when one tries to access X (formerly Twitter) in Brazil now. Fair use.
Ed: We have chosen to link to and quote instead of embed posts on X to make them available to readers in Brazil.
When the clock turned from August 30 to August 31, 2024, if you were using X (formerly Twitter) in Brazil, your timeline likely started to have trouble loading, and the direct messages sent and received wouldn't update. Throughout the following day, some people could still use the social media platform, depending on their internet provider or whether they were connected via WiFi.
By September 1, X was already down. On their app, you'd read a message saying, “Posts are not being loaded. Try again,” followed by a timeline with posts a few hours old. Now, mainly people willing to use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) — which could lead to fines — can access the platform in Brazil.
The situation unfolded from the latest chapter in the feud between the platform’s owner, billionaire Elon Musk, and the Supreme Court justice in charge of investigating fake news and digital militias in Brazil, Alexandre de Moraes.
After X refused to comply with legal orders to block accounts of people investigated for threats to the Brazilian democracy and hold a legal representative in the country, Moraes ordered the suspension of the platform over the national territory. The justice issued an order to Anatel (Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency) and to Apple and Google so X's app would be blocked on iOS and Android, and removed from their online stores.
He explained his decision by saying:
Sadly, the illicit conduct was repeated over the present investigation, making patent the non compliance with several legal orders by X Brasil, as the malicious intent to exempt itself from the accountability of fulfilling the judicial orders issued, as the disappearance of their legal representatives in Brazil for purposes of subpoenas and, later on, with the quoted message about a possible closing of the Brazilian company.
Moraes's decision was also published by the Supreme Court's X account as a reply to another tweet posted by X's own Global Affairs account. The platform claimed the order came from their refusal to block two accounts: one from a senator and another from a 16-year-old girl.
X hasn't named the people, but the decision itself mentions the platform's refusal to suspend Senator Marcos do Val (from the same party as former president Jair Bolsonaro) and other people under investigation. X's post says:
We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States. The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that.
In the days to come, we will publish all of Judge de Moraes’ illegal demands and all related court filings in the interest of transparency.
Unlike other social media and technology platforms, we will not comply in secret with illegal orders.
To our users in Brazil and around the world, X remains committed to protecting your freedom of speech.
They did create an account “Alexandre Files” that claims it will expose confidential information that reveals de Moraes's corruption. Also, the Brazilian press remembered that, despite waving the flag of protector of freedom of speech now, Musk complied with similar orders in other countries, such as India.
This September 2, four other justices in the Supreme Court's First Division unanimously voted in favor of Moraes's order to suspend X. The justices highlighted the importance of national sovereignty. Flávio Dino, one of the them, said: “Economic power and the size of a bank account don't create a weird immunity of jurisdiction.”
Free expression versus complying with the law
These past few days, Brazilians have been rushing to BlueSky, the social media platform that's a sort of spin-off from Twitter itself, originally created by the man who originally created Twitter, Jack Dorsey. The platform celebrated two million new users in a week, but it also lacks a legal representative in the country, according to newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.
The situation presents a conundrum. On one side, the banishment of a popular social media platform is far from ideal; on the other, a country's judiciary tries to find a way to ensure that a foreign company follows the local law amidst a challenging investigation that impacts its democratic system. It is a difficult balance to negotiate.
An article published by the news outlet UOL says that not every internet company with Brazilian users needs a legal representative in the country, as analyzed by experts. One of them, Francisco Brito Cruz, said:
What Moraes has decided is that the company needed to answer to orders. And for that, he needed to have someone to send those orders to; therefore, in the subpoena he sent to X, he put a sanction (to declare a representative) according to Marco Civil [da Internet, (Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet)].
As an attempt to guarantee the payment of fines owed by X for disregarding the Supreme Court's orders, Moraes also ruled to block the Brazilian accounts of Starlink, another company that has Musk as a shareholder.
Musk complained, claiming it was a different company, but X's laid-off employees who were taken by surprise by the decision to close the Brazilian branch offices say the company told them they couldn't pay all their dues because of Starlink's blockage, as reported by news outlet G1.
On Musk's side
In Brazil, Musk is aligned with Bolsonaristas, as politicians and other people who follow former president Jair Bolsonaro (of the Partido Liberal or PL) are known, himself one of the individuals investigated in the inquiries led by de Moraes.
After the order to suspend Musk's platform in the country, he gained the support of federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira (from the same party as Bolsonaro and one of his closest allies) and replied to one of Ferreira's posts with: “You're a freedom fighter.”
Screenshot of post supporting Elon Musk from Brazilian Senator Nikolas Ferreira's X account. Fair use.
Screenshot of post supporting Brazilian Senator Nikolas Ferreira from Elon Musk's X account. Ferreira's post reads “Enough. I'm going to radicalize, even if it's by myself” The headline in the image in his post reads “Nikolas proposes paralyzing the National Congress after Moraes suspends X.” The lede reads “Nikolas Ferreira spoke of “radicalizing” against Alexandre de Moraes after the judge determined a fine of BRL 50,000 [USD 8,800] for anyone who uses the social network.” Fair use.
Lula, nevertheless, commented on the case in an interview for a local radio in the state of Paraíba last week:
He has to respect the Brazilian Supreme Court's decision. If he wants it, okay; if he doesn't, whatever. If it's not like that, this country will never be sovereign. This country is not one to have a society with a stray dog complex. A US citizen screams at us and we are scared. No! This guy has to accept the rules in this country.
Some experts have been analyzing the impact that losing a Brazilian audience, especially the so-called stan accounts, could have on a platform like X. Alonso Gurmendi, a researcher in the United Kingdom, posted:
I think the Global North has not yet fully realised what a massive force Brazil is for media. Youtubing is a 1 billion dollar industry in Brazil. Many US shows really need their Brazilian fandoms for word of mouth promotion. Heck some of the most famous memes are Brazilian
Musk himself has been encouraging Brazilians to use VPN, asking them to not leave his platform as a sort of resistance.
Moraes's decision, however, also determines that users using VPN or other technological subterfuge to continue navigating the platform or maintain communications through it can be fined sums of around BRL 50,000 per day (USD 8,800). The Brazilian Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil, OAB) asked for the fine to be reviewed at the Supreme Court or for clarifications on the excerpt that mentions VPN use.
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