This week, Brazil’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled to uphold a nationwide ban on X, formerly known as Twitter. Here’s how we got here.
Catch-up: In April, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a self-styled crusader against online disinformation, ordered X to remove certain far-right accounts accused of undermining Brazil’s 2022 election results. Current X owner Elon Musk refused to do this and to meet other legal demands, which led to an investigation, and eventually to the ban.
Driving the news: In the days since, Musk has been campaigning against de Moraes and his decision — labelling him an “evil tyrant” — with X even launching an official account dedicated to detailing the judge’s court filings and his alleged “abuses of Brazilian law.”
- Musk’s satellite internet company Starlink also threatened to ignore the ban and allow its Brazilian users to keep accessing X, though it quickly backed down.
Why it matters: Brazilians average the second-most screen time in the world, making the country a key market for any social media company. For X in particular, Brazilians have an outsized impact on its culture, starting popular memes and influential “stan” accounts.
- Before the ban, Brazil had ~22 million X users, who brought in between US$80 million and $100 million in revenue in 2021. They are now turning to Bluesky… or using VPNs.
Big picture: Musk’s never-back-down approach to running a company has worked well in the past, but it's proved more challenging for X. While Musk feels his actions support free speech and stand up to repression, they’ve driven away advertisers in record numbers.—QH