Brazil threatens to suspend X.
VergeAug 19
The Facts
A five-judge panel in the Brazilian Supreme Court voted unanimously on Monday to uphold Justice Alexandre de Moraes' order for a nationwide ban on X (formerly Twitter) after its owner, Elon Musk, refused to suspend certain accounts.
Access to X has been blocked since Saturday as the deadline to name a legal representative after closing the local office in mid-August was missed. According to the Friday ruling, Musk "showed his total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty" by refusing to comply with court orders.
The Spin
Right narrative
Unelected authorities in Brazil have censored and repressed anyone opposing leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his allies ever since Jair Bolsonaro was in office. Blocking X nationwide is the latest — and certainly the most significant so far — attack against free speech in what was once a democratic country.
Left narrative
Social media companies must have a legal representative in Brazil to handle government takedown notices, so this ban is only natural after X removed all its employees from the country. This decision has nothing to do with free speech but everything to do with national sovereignty. Musk's social media platform is merely a coup machine serving US interests in the Global South.
