The Twitter, now renamed as, X, social network is no longer accessible in South America's largest country Brazil, after the nation's Supreme Court ordered the social network to be blocked. Furthermore, anyone attempting to access Twitter-X using an encrypted virtual private network (VPN) faces a fine of NZ$14,300 a day.
Brazil's highest legal instance ordered the shutdown of the social network after Twitter-X ignored another order earlier this year to block accounts involved in dis and misinformation and hate investigations.
After Twitter-X refused to name a legal representative in Brazil to respond to the court, the social network was ordered to be blocked in the country.
On top of that, the accounts of Musk's SpaceX which operates the low-earth orbit satellite broadband network Starlink have been blocked in Brazil. As Starlink has defiantly told Brazil that it won't block Twitter-X on its network, the South American country's telco regulator Anatel said it could revoke the satellite broadband operator's licence.
It is believed Starlink has around 200,000 customers in Brazil.
Musk reacted badly to the news that his social network is now blocked in Brazil, and that Starlink could lose its licence in the country. He called the Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes a "dictator", compared him to Voldemort in the Harry Potter books, and launched what Musk called "a daily data dump" on the Brazilian jurist and politician on Twitter-X.
Musk also threatened to apply for Brazilian government property to be seized in retaliation for the orders against Twitter-X and SpaceX.
Unless the Brazilian government returns the illegally seized property of đť•Ź and SpaceX, we will seek reciprocal seizure of government assets too.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2024
Hope Lula enjoys flying commercial. https://t.co/ghZc11B4Hl
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the current president of Brazil. In contrast, Musk has expressed support for the former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, who last year was barred from standing for political office in the country for eight years, having been found guilty of abusing his powers and misuse of media.
In 2022, Bolsonaro presented Musk with Brazil's Order of Merit honour, which is one of several that his administration bestowed on the former president himself, and many other recipients that year.
Musk is seeking to frame the cause célèbre as freedom of speech issue, while calling for de Moraes to be impeached and imprisoned for alleged crimes.
How the very public brawl ends is anyone's guess, but Brazil has shown that it is not afraid to take on tech giants.
This week, Reuters reported that Brazil's finance ministry intends to propose a 15% tax on multinational corporations, in case there is a revenue shortfall next year.Â
The plans align with discussions Brazil, the current G20 forum chair of the world's largest economies, has had with other nations around global tax cooperation.
Update The free speech absolutist commenters' cognitive dissonance is quite a strange phenomenon. There's nothing to suggest that the freedom to post hate speech and support of authoritarianism, and anti-democratic movements and activities equates to being anti-authoritarian and democratic. Quite the opposite.
It's also worth noting that under Musk, Twitter has caved into authoritarian regimes in the vast majority of cases and censored users.Â
17 Comments
Pretty one sided article pointing out that Musk hasn't followed Moraes instructions - even though many of those instructions don't seem to comply with their own law. And banning VPN's seems pretty over the top. I'm sure you are aware Starlink and X are different companies with different shareholdings - freezing Starlink accounts in response to X not following potentially illegal instructions doesn't seem right, and perhaps why Starlink is pushing back. But its not about what is right - its about discrediting Musk - Right? How about an article on Zucks letter regretting censorship on behalf of the Dems (and pretty sure Labour NZ? ). Or does that not fit the dialogue?Â
"Officially, Brazil blocked X because it no longer had "legal representation" in Brazil. On leaving X, President Lula encouraged people to follow him at Bluesky. But Bluesky also has no legal representation in Brazil. Dictatorships are totalitarian and incompetent."
https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/2024/09/alternativa-ao-x-bluesky-…
@shellenberger
Here's another article;
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/37-countries-blocked-x-access-161510435…
You might find it less biased as it covers similar moves elsewhere in the world.
A what a fine list it is. Yet Juha states it is a "cause célèbre" rather than a "freedom of speech issue".
China blocked Twitter in June 2009, close to the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests.
Iran banned in 2009 following protests against a disputed presidential election.
Turkmenistan implemented restrictions on Twitter in the early 2010s alongside other foreign platforms.
North Korea banned X along with other social media sites since April 2016.
In Myanmar the platform has been blocked since February 2021 after the military coup.
In Russia access was formally banned in March 2022 after initially being throttled in 2021
Pakistan banned since February 2024, citing security reasons.
Venezuela temporarily blocked in August 2024 during protests, with the ban extending beyond the initial period.
Financial Times notes that 56% of Brazilians say Moraes “exceeds his limits” and that his ban of X scares investors. “This is not [just] my concern, but that of investors and many people who do business in Brazil,” says the Speaker of Brazil’s House, Arthur Lira.
Bill Ackman, a prominent US hedge fund manager, said on the platform: “Brazil’s illegal shutdown of X and account freeze at Starlink put Brazil on a rapid path to becoming an uninvestable market.” A poll by Genial/Quaest in May found that 56 per cent of Brazilians felt that Moraes was “exceeding the limits”. Some 27 per cent disagreed with the statement.
https://www.ft.com/content/a2df525d-a092-43c9-bcb7-d8a2382aa988
After Twitter-X refused to name a legal representative in Brazil to respond to the court, the social network was ordered to be blocked in the country.
How bizarre they didn't even appoint a legal representative? That can only imply they had no legitimate defense for their breach of the law, or more likely, Musk sees his companies as above the law in that country (and everywhere, I assume?).
It's a bit like Peter Theil's view that freedom and democracy are incompatible;
https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/education-libertari…
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Yes, it's done elsewhere, e.g., China, Russia, et. al;
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/37-countries-blocked-x-access-161510435…
andÂ
https://letschinese.com/how-to-use-twitter-in-china/
While the Chinese authorities predominantly tackle VPN usage by blocking the services technologically, users, especially foreigners, are generally not prosecuted for using them.
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They had a legal rep and their bank accounts were frozen. Why would you then go and appoint another one (and who in their right mind would choose to) of the same was to apply.
I have no skin in this game, however nothing about Brazil and its corruption surprises me.
I must admit that I haven't noticed an increase in hate, lies and vitriol since Musk bought twitter. It was always there, but only now the MSM likes to talk about it as part of their anti-Musk crusade.
I've manage to curate my X feed such that it is bearable. Takes a bit of effort, but it is worth it (and necessary).Â
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