Elon Musk’s X Officially Down in Brazil After Judge’s Shutdown Order

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - MAY 6: Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institute's Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel,on May 6, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. The 27th annual global conference explores various topics, from the rise of generative AI to electric vehicle trends and features participants, soccer star David Beckham and actor Ashton Kutcher. Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images

The shutdown of Elon Musk’s X social media platform is officially underway in Brazil, making it largely inaccessible for residents of the country through the web or mobile apps.

An Epoch Times reporter attempted to access X, formerly known as Twitter, through a virtual private network based in Brazil but was unsuccessful.

Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, with tens of millions of users, according to research firm Oosga. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered a shutdown of X after accusing the company of failing to appoint a legal representative in the country by a deadline that he'd set.

The blockade marks an escalation in a months-long dispute between Musk and de Moraes over free speech and posts that the judge described as misinformation. In his shutdown order, de Moraes said X will stay suspended until the company complies with his order, setting a daily fine of about $8,900 for individuals or firms who attempt to access the site via a virtual private network, or a VPN, or another means.

X was still working normally in Brazil on Aug. 30, but the platform officially went offline a day later.

Bluesky, a social media platform that was launched last year as an alternative to X and other more established sites, has seen a large influx of Brazilians in the past several days. The company said Friday it has seen about 200,000 new users from Brazil sign up during that time, and the number “continues to grow by the minute.” Brazilian users are also setting records for activities such as follows and likes, Bluesky said.

Users of other platforms welcomed Brazilians to their ranks. “Hello literally everyone in Brazil,” a user wrote on Threads, a text-based app developed by Instagram. “We’re a lot nicer than Twitter here,” said another.

Meanwhile, a number of Brazilian X users had written on the social media platform that they believe the shutdown and fining of users for accessing he website was authoritarian and extreme.

Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, wrote on X before it was taken down in his country that the move is dystopian.

“I used VPNs a lot in authoritarian countries like China to continue accessing news sites and social media. It never occurred to me that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. It’s dystopian,” he wrote.

Right-wing Brazilian congressman Nikolas Ferreira wrote that he “may be fined on almost $9,000 a day” but “won’t back down, especially considering that the Superior Electoral Court is still posting on X,” according to a post he made before the site went down. “If they can, we can ... tyranny won’t prevail.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva backed de Moraes’s decision and criticized Musk for what he said was an attempt to skirt the law in the country. Musk earlier in the week had criticized both Lula and de Moraes, accusing Lula of doing the judge’s bidding in a post on his platform.

“Each and every citizen from any part of the world that has an investment in Brazil is subject to the Brazilian Constitution and Brazilian laws,” Lula told a Brazilian radio station last week. “Just because a man has a lot of money doesn’t mean he can disrespect [the law].”

In his order last week, de Moraes’s court announced that it would order Musk and X to appoint a legal representative for the social media firm within 24 hours or face a “penalty of suspension of activities” in Brazil. It further said Musk is being investigated for alleged obstruction of justice, incitement to criminal activity, and criminal organization.

The Brazilian Bar Association said Friday in a statement that it would request the Supreme Court review the fines imposed on all citizens using VPNs or other means to access X without due process. The bar argued that sanctions should never be imposed summarily before ensuring an adversarial process and the right to full defense.

Countries where X is currently banned include China, Iran, Turkmenistan, North Korea, Burma, Russia, Venezuela, and now Brazil, according to an Epoch Times review. The platform has been banned for periods of time in places like Pakistan, Turkey, and Egypt due to fears of unrest.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.