Brazil’s X ban is coming to an end: all the latest news

Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency sent orders to service providers to unblock X, ending a five-week ban of the social media company.

The agency known as Anatel, which is like the country’s FCC, issued the directive today and indicated that each internet service provider is responsible for taking the measures to implement the order, so it could take time for all of the country’s 20,000-plus ISPs to make the switch.

On Tuesday, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the country’s telecommunications agency Anatel to unblock X within 24 hours, writing that it has fulfilled “all the requirements necessary for the immediate return of activities.

However, this won’t mean an immediate return to service for the app. As noted by the Brazilian outlet Poder360, Anatel still needs to notify Brazil’s 20,000 different internet service providers to remove the restrictions, which will vary by the system they use.

Brazilian fan account owners might have a reason to rejoice, as X could be returning to Brazil. According to The New York Times, in a court filing Friday night, the company agreed to abide by the Supreme Court’s request in order to have the countrywide ban lifted:

The company has spent the last three weeks fighting the ban and continuing to distribute content from members of the far-right community in Brazil. This led to X being blocked by Brazilian ISPs and eventually trying to get around the blocks with some help from Cloudflare.

For more than two weeks, Brazilians have been without access to X. Brazil’s Supreme Court blocked the platform after Elon Musk failed to comply with court rulings. As X evades the ban and Musk’s companies work slowly toward a resolution, the real concern for many isn’t just the absence of social media. It’s Musk’s power play over the government as he backs Brazil’s far right.

X was banned on August 30th after months of back-and-forth between Musk and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The conflict began in April when Musk publicized government requests for information and then removed all restrictions imposed on X profiles by Brazilian court orders. Moraes responded by including Musk in an investigation over organized political disinformation and subpoenaing X’s Brazilian legal representative. Musk abruptly shuttered its local operations, leading Moraes to ban it for violating local laws.

In a reversal, Starlink says it’s “complying with the order” to block access to X in Brazil. The company previously refused to restrict X unless Brazil unfroze its financial assets.

Starlink, the satellite internet company controlled by Elon Musk, has been caught in the crosshairs of an ongoing feud between the billionaire, who also owns X, and Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

A panel of five Brazilian Supreme Court justices voted on Monday to uphold a decision (PDF) requiring the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to limit access to X, the service formerly known as Twitter. Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the ban on Friday in response to X owner Elon Musk’s refusal to comply with court orders to block certain accounts and to identify a legal representative in the country. Four other justices have now backed the decision.

Poder360 and O Globo report that three justices, Cristiano Zanin, Flávio Dino, and Cármen Lúcia, fully supported de Moraes’ ruling, while a fourth, Luiz Fux, noted reservations about a fine for people who circumvent the ban with a VPN, saying only people who post criminal messages like those expressing Nazism or fascism should be fined.

X is currently banned in Brazil following an order from a Supreme Court justice, and Brazilian users seem to be turning to Bluesky, an alternate social network, in droves.

“Brazil, you’re setting new all-time-highs for activity on Bluesky!” the official Bluesky account said in a post.

A judge in Brazil has ordered the suspension of X after owner Elon Musk failed to designate a new legal representative for the country, according to reports from Bloomberg and local news outlet Poder360.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes told the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to limit access to X within 24 hours and has given Apple and Google five days to remove X from their mobile app stores. The country will also impose daily fines of $50,000 Brazilian real (~$8,900 USD) to people who try to access X through a virtual private network (VPN), as reported by Poder360.