Brazil Blocks Access to X
SupremeBrazil Court Judge Blocks Access to X in Brazil
The Facts
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued a ruling on Friday ordering the country's telecom regulator to block access to the X social media platform nationwide within 24 hours.
This comes as Elon Musk missed a deadline to name a legal representative for X in the country after the closure of its local office in mid-August as de Moraes threatened arrests for not complying with his orders to remove certain X accounts.
The Spin
HighUnelected courtsauthorities in Brazil have long censored and repressed anyone opposing the authoritarian leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his allies, ever since right-wing Jair Bolsonaro was in office. Blocking X nationwide is the latest attack — and certainly the most significant — against free speech in what was once was a democratic country — and certainly the most significant so far.
leftSocial media companies must have a legal representative in Brazil to handle government takedown notices, so this ban is only natural after removing all its employees from the country. This decision has nothing to do with free speech, but rather with national sovereignty. X is merely a coup machine serving US interests in the Global South.
