Brazilian Users Feel Disconnected as X (Twitter) Blocks Access Amid Legal Dispute

On the first day without X, many Brazilians say they feel disconnected from the world

SAO PAULO (AP) -- The blocking of social media platform X in Brazil divided users and politicians over the legitimacy of the ban, and many Brazilians on Saturday had difficulty and doubts over navigating other social media in its absence. The shutdown of Elon Musk's platform started early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through mobile apps after the billionaire refused to name a legal representative to the country, missing a deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The blockade marks an escalation in a monthslong feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, with tens of millions of users. "I've got the feeling that I have no idea what's happening in the world right now. Bizarre," entertainment writer and heavy X user Chico Barney wrote on Threads. Threads is a text-based app developed by Instagram that Barney was using as an alternative. "This Threads algorithm is like an all-you-can-eat restaurant where the waiter keeps serving things I would never order." 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 couple of 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. Previous users of other platforms welcomed Brazilians to their ranks. "Hello literally everyone in Brazil," a user wrote on Threads. "We're a lot nicer than Twitter here," said another. Platform migration isn't new for Brazilians. They were huge adopters of Orkut and, when Orkut went kaput, they very gladly moved to other platforms. X is not as popular in Brazil as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok. However, it remains an important platform on which Brazilians engage in political debates and is highly influential among politicians, journalists and other opinion makers. It's also where they share their sense of humor. Many of the country's most famous memes originate from posts on X before spreading to other social networks. Last week, for instance, Brazilians collaboratively crafted an absurd storyline for a fictional telenovela, complete with a theme song created using artificial intelligence tools. Pop stars and their fanbases were also hit by Brazilians being left off the platform. "Wait a lot of my fan pages are Brazilian!!! Come back hold up!!," Cardi B said Friday on X. A fan page dedicated to Timothée Chalamet, known by the handle TimotheeUpdates, said it would temporarily cease updating as all of its administrators are Brazilian. De Moraes said X will stay suspended until it complies with his orders, and he also set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for people or companies using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access it. Some legal experts questioned the grounds for that decision and how it would be enforced. Others suggested the move was authoritarian. 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. Brazil's bar association argued that sanctions should never be imposed summarily before ensuring an adversarial process and the right to full defense. "I've used VPNs a lot in authoritarian countries like China to continue accessing news sites and social networks," Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said on the platform before its shutdown. "It never occurred to me that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. It's dystopian." A search Friday on X showed hundreds of Brazilian users inquiring about VPNs that could potentially enable them to continue using the platform by making it appear they are logging on from outside the country. "Tyrants want to turn Brazil into another commie dictatorship but we won't back down. I repeat: do not vote on those who don't respect free speech. Orwell was right," right-wing congressman Nikolas Ferreira, one of former President Jair Bolsonaro's closest allies, published before X went off. Musk replied with an emoji suggesting agreement: "100". Ferreira is a 28-year-old YouTuber who received the most votes of the 513 elected federal lawmakers in the 2022 election. De Moraes ordered the block of his social media accounts after a mob of Bolsonaro supporters attacked Brazil's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court in January 2023 seeking to overturn the election. Lawmaker Bia Kicis said "the consequences of Alexandre de Moraes' attacks to Elon Musk, X and Starlink will be regrettable for Brazilians." She also urged Rodrigo Pacheco, the president of the country's Senate, to act. Kicis has repeatedly urged Pacheco to open impeachment proceedings against the Supreme Court justice. "We need to leave this state of apathy and stop the worst from happening," the pro-Bolsonaro lawmaker, whose profiles were temporarily blocked by de Moraes in 2022, also said. The former president said Saturday on Instagram that X's departure from Brazil was "another blow to our freedom and legal security." "It not only affects our freedom of expression, but also undermines the confidence of international companies in operating on Brazilian soil, with impacts ranging from national security to the quality of the information that reaches our citizens," Bolsonaro said. On Friday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backed de Moraes' decision and took aim at Musk for positioning himself as though he was above the law during an interview with Radio MaisPB. "Any citizen, from anywhere in the world, who has investments in Brazil, is subject to the Brazilian Constitution and Brazilian laws. Therefore, if the Supreme Court has made a decision for citizens to comply with certain things, they either have to comply or take another course of action," Lula said. "It's not because the guy has a lot of money that he can disrespect it." Ana Júlia Alves de Oliveira, an 18-year-old student, shared that many young people like her no longer watch newscasts or read newspapers, relying solely on social media platforms like X for their news. Without this platform, she felt disconnected. "I kind of lost touch with what's going on around the world," she said. "I saw a lot of entertainment there too, so this is a new reality for me." Ortutay reported from San Francisco and Biller from Rio de Janeiro. Associated Press writers Mauricio Savarese and Felipe Campos Mello contributed from Sao Paulo.

On the first day without X, many Brazilians say they feel disconnected from the world

SAO PAULO -- The blocking of social media platform X in Brazil divided users and politicians over the legitimacy of the ban, and many Brazilians on Sunday had difficulty and doubts over navigating other social media in its absence. The shutdown of Elon Musk's platform started early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through mobile apps after the billionaire refused to name a legal representative to the country, missing a deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The blockade marks an escalation in a monthslong feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Brazil has been one of the biggest markets for X, with tens of millions of users. "I've got the feeling that I have no idea what's happening in the world right now. Bizarre," entertainment writer and heavy X user Chico Barney wrote on Threads, a text-based app developed by Instagram that Barney was using as an alternative. "This Threads algorithm is like an all-you-can-eat restaurant where the waiter keeps serving things I would never order." 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 couple of 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. Previous users of other platforms welcomed Brazilians to their ranks. "Hello literally everyone in Brazil," a user wrote on Threads. "We're a lot nicer than Twitter here," said another. Platform migration isn't uncommon for Brazilians, who were huge adopters of Orkut, and when Orkut went kaput, they very gladly moved to other platforms. X is not as popular in Brazil as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok. However, it remains an important platform on which Brazilians engage in political debates and is highly influential among politicians, journalists and other opinion makers. It's also where they share their sense of humor. Many of the country's most famous memes originate from posts on X before spreading to other social networks. Last week, for instance, Brazilians collaboratively crafted an absurd storyline for a fictional telenovela, complete with a theme song created using artificial intelligence tools. Pop stars and their fanbases were also hit by Brazilians being left off the platform. "Wait a lot of my fan pages are Brazilian!!! Come back hold up!!," Cardi B said Friday on X. A fan page dedicated to Timothée Chalamet, known by the handle TimotheeUpdates, said it would temporarily cease updating as all of its administrators are Brazilian. De Moraes said X will stay suspended until it complies with his orders, and he also set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for people or companies using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access it. Some legal experts questioned the grounds for that decision and how it would be enforced. Others suggested the move was authoritarian. 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. "I've used VPNs a lot in authoritarian countries like China to continue accessing news sites and social networks," Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said on the platform before its shutdown. "It never occurred to me that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. It's dystopian." A search Friday on X showed hundreds of Brazilian users inquiring about VPNs that could potentially enable them to continue using the platform by making it appear they are logging on from outside the country. "Tirants want to turn Brazil into another commie dictatorship but we won't back down. I repeat: do not vote on those who don't respect free speech. Orwell was right," right-wing congressman Nikolas Ferreira, one of former President Jair Bolsonaro's closest allies, published before X went off. Musk replied with an emoji suggesting agreement: "100". Ferreira is a 28-year-old YouTuber who received the most votes of the 513 elected federal lawmakers in the 2022 election. De Moraes ordered the block of his social media accounts after a mob of Bolsonaro supporters attacked Brazil's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court in January 2023 seeking to overturn the election. Lawmaker Bia Kicis said "the consequences of Alexandre de Moraes' attacks to Elon Musk, X and Starlink will be regrettable for Brazilians." She also urged Rodrigo Pacheco, the president of the country's Senate, to act. Kicis has repeatedly urged Pacheco to open impeachment proceedings against the Supreme Court justice. "We need to leave this state of apathy and stop the worst from happening," the pro-Bolsonaro lawmaker, whose profiles were blocked by de Moraes in 2022, also said. The former president said Saturday on Instagram that X's departure from Brazil was "another blow to our freedom and legal security." "It not only affects our freedom of expression, but also undermines the confidence of international companies in operating on Brazilian soil, with impacts ranging from national security to the quality of the information that reaches our citizens," Bolsonaro said. On Friday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backed de Moraes' decision and took aim at Musk for positioning himself as though he was above the law during an interview with Radio MaisPB. "Any citizen, from anywhere in the world, who has investments in Brazil, is subject to the Brazilian Constitution and Brazilian laws. Therefore, if the Supreme Court has made a decision for citizens to comply with certain things, they either have to comply or take another course of action," Lula said. "It's not because the guy has a lot of money that he can disrespect it." Ana Júlia Alves de Oliveira, an 18-year-old student, shared that many young people like her no longer watch newscasts or read newspapers, relying solely on social media platforms like X for their news. Without this platform, she felt disconnected. "I kind of lost touch with what's going on around the world," she said. "I saw a lot of entertainment there too, so this is a new reality for me." ___ Ortutay reported from San Francisco and Biller from Rio de Janeiro. Associated Press writers Mauricio Savarese and Felipe Campos Mello contributed from Sao Paulo.

On the first day without X, many Brazilians say they feel disconnected from the world

SAO PAULO (AP) -- The blocking of social media platform X in Brazil divided users and politicians over the legitimacy of the ban, and many Brazilians on Saturday had difficulty and doubts over navigating other social media in its absence. The shutdown of Elon Musk's platform started early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through mobile apps after the billionaire refused to name a legal representative to the country, missing a deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The blockade marks an escalation in a monthslong feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, with tens of millions of users. "I've got the feeling that I have no idea what's happening in the world right now. Bizarre," entertainment writer and heavy X user Chico Barney wrote on Threads. Threads is a text-based app developed by Instagram that Barney was using as an alternative. "This Threads algorithm is like an all-you-can-eat restaurant where the waiter keeps serving things I would never order." 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 couple of 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. Previous users of other platforms welcomed Brazilians to their ranks. "Hello literally everyone in Brazil," a user wrote on Threads. "We're a lot nicer than Twitter here," said another. Platform migration isn't new for Brazilians. They were huge adopters of Orkut and, when Orkut went kaput, they very gladly moved to other platforms. X is not as popular in Brazil as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok. However, it remains an important platform on which Brazilians engage in political debates and is highly influential among politicians, journalists and other opinion makers. It's also where they share their sense of humor. Many of the country's most famous memes originate from posts on X before spreading to other social networks. Last week, for instance, Brazilians collaboratively crafted an absurd storyline for a fictional telenovela, complete with a theme song created using artificial intelligence tools. Pop stars and their fanbases were also hit by Brazilians being left off the platform. "Wait a lot of my fan pages are Brazilian!!! Come back hold up!!," Cardi B said Friday on X. A fan page dedicated to Timothée Chalamet, known by the handle TimotheeUpdates, said it would temporarily cease updating as all of its administrators are Brazilian. De Moraes said X will stay suspended until it complies with his orders, and he also set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for people or companies using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access it. Some legal experts questioned the grounds for that decision and how it would be enforced. Others suggested the move was authoritarian. 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. Brazil's bar association argued that sanctions should never be imposed summarily before ensuring an adversarial process and the right to full defense. "I've used VPNs a lot in authoritarian countries like China to continue accessing news sites and social networks," Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said on the platform before its shutdown. "It never occurred to me that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. It's dystopian." A search Friday on X showed hundreds of Brazilian users inquiring about VPNs that could potentially enable them to continue using the platform by making it appear they are logging on from outside the country. "Tyrants want to turn Brazil into another commie dictatorship but we won't back down. I repeat: do not vote on those who don't respect free speech. Orwell was right," right-wing congressman Nikolas Ferreira, one of former President Jair Bolsonaro's closest allies, published before X went off. Musk replied with an emoji suggesting agreement: "100". Ferreira is a 28-year-old YouTuber who received the most votes of the 513 elected federal lawmakers in the 2022 election. De Moraes ordered the block of his social media accounts after a mob of Bolsonaro supporters attacked Brazil's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court in January 2023 seeking to overturn the election. Lawmaker Bia Kicis said "the consequences of Alexandre de Moraes' attacks to Elon Musk, X and Starlink will be regrettable for Brazilians." She also urged Rodrigo Pacheco, the president of the country's Senate, to act. Kicis has repeatedly urged Pacheco to open impeachment proceedings against the Supreme Court justice. "We need to leave this state of apathy and stop the worst from happening," the pro-Bolsonaro lawmaker, whose profiles were temporarily blocked by de Moraes in 2022, also said. The former president said Saturday on Instagram that X's departure from Brazil was "another blow to our freedom and legal security." "It not only affects our freedom of expression, but also undermines the confidence of international companies in operating on Brazilian soil, with impacts ranging from national security to the quality of the information that reaches our citizens," Bolsonaro said. On Friday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backed de Moraes' decision and took aim at Musk for positioning himself as though he was above the law during an interview with Radio MaisPB. "Any citizen, from anywhere in the world, who has investments in Brazil, is subject to the Brazilian Constitution and Brazilian laws. Therefore, if the Supreme Court has made a decision for citizens to comply with certain things, they either have to comply or take another course of action," Lula said. "It's not because the guy has a lot of money that he can disrespect it." Ana Júlia Alves de Oliveira, an 18-year-old student, shared that many young people like her no longer watch newscasts or read newspapers, relying solely on social media platforms like X for their news. Without this platform, she felt disconnected. "I kind of lost touch with what's going on around the world," she said. "I saw a lot of entertainment there too, so this is a new reality for me." ___ Ortutay reported from San Francisco and Biller from Rio de Janeiro. Associated Press writers Mauricio Savarese and Felipe Campos Mello contributed from Sao Paulo.

First day without X, many Brazilians feel disconnected

SAO PAULO (AP) - The blocking of social media platform X in Brazil divided users and politicians over the legitimacy of the ban, and many Brazilians on Saturday had difficulty and doubts over navigating other social media in its absence. The shutdown of Elon Musk's platform started early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through mobile apps after the billionaire refused to name a legal representative to the country, missing a deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The blockade marks an escalation in a monthslong feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, with tens of millions of users. "I've got the feeling that I have no idea what's happening in the world right now. Bizarre," entertainment writer and heavy X user Chico Barney wrote on Threads. Threads is a text-based app developed by Instagram that Barney was using as an alternative. "This Threads algorithm is like an all-you-can-eat restaurant where the waiter keeps serving things I would never order." 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 couple of days. The company said on 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. Previous users of other platforms welcomed Brazilians to their ranks. "Hello literally everyone in Brazil," a user wrote on Threads. "We're a lot nicer than Twitter here," said another. Platform migration isn't new for Brazilians. They were huge adopters of Orkut and, when Orkut went kaput, they very gladly moved to other platforms. X is not as popular in Brazil as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok. However, it remains an important platform on which Brazilians engage in political debates and is highly influential among politicians, journalists and other opinion makers. It's also where they share their sense of humor. Many of the country's most famous memes originate from posts on X before spreading to other social networks. Last week, for instance, Brazilians collaboratively crafted an absurd storyline for a fictional telenovela, complete with a theme song created using artificial intelligence tools. Pop stars and their fanbases were also hit by Brazilians being left off the platform. "Wait a lot of my fan pages are Brazilian!!! Come back hold up!!," Cardi B said Friday on X. A fan page dedicated to Timothée Chalamet, known by the handle TimotheeUpdates, said it would temporarily cease updating as all of its administrators are Brazilian. De Moraes said X will stay suspended until it complies with his orders, and he also set a daily fine of BRL50,000 (USD8,900) for people or companies using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access it. Some legal experts questioned the grounds for that decision and how it would be enforced. Others suggested the move was authoritarian. The Brazilian Bar Association said on 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. Brazil's bar association argued that sanctions should never be imposed summarily before ensuring an adversarial process and the right to full defense. "I've used VPNs a lot in authoritarian countries like China to continue accessing news sites and social networks," Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said on the platform before its shutdown. "It never occurred to me that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. It's dystopian." A search Friday on X showed hundreds of Brazilian users inquiring about VPNs that could potentially enable them to continue using the platform by making it appear they are logging on from outside the country. "Tyrants want to turn Brazil into another commie dictatorship but we won't back down. I repeat: do not vote on those who don't respect free speech. Orwell was right," right-wing congressman Nikolas Ferreira, one of former President Jair Bolsonaro's closest allies, published before X went off. Musk replied with an emoji suggesting agreement: "100". Ferreira is a 28-year-old YouTuber who received the most votes of the 513 elected federal lawmakers in the 2022 election. De Moraes ordered the block of his social media accounts after a mob of Bolsonaro supporters attacked Brazil's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court in January 2023 seeking to overturn the election. Lawmaker Bia Kicis said "the consequences of Alexandre de Moraes' attacks to Elon Musk, X and Starlink will be regrettable for Brazilians." She also urged Rodrigo Pacheco, the president of the country's Senate, to act. Kicis has repeatedly urged Pacheco to open impeachment proceedings against the Supreme Court justice. "We need to leave this state of apathy and stop the worst from happening," the pro-Bolsonaro lawmaker, whose profiles were temporarily blocked by de Moraes in 2022, also said. The former president said Saturday on Instagram that X's departure from Brazil was "another blow to our freedom and legal security." "It not only affects our freedom of expression, but also undermines the confidence of international companies in operating on Brazilian soil, with impacts ranging from national security to the quality of the information that reaches our citizens," Bolsonaro said. On Friday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backed de Moraes' decision and took aim at Musk for positioning himself as though he was above the law during an interview with Radio MaisPB. "Any citizen, from anywhere in the world, who has investments in Brazil, is subject to the Brazilian Constitution and Brazilian laws. Therefore, if the Supreme Court has made a decision for citizens to comply with certain things, they either have to comply or take another course of action," Lula said. "It's not because the guy has a lot of money that he can disrespect it." Ana Júlia Alves de Oliveira, an 18-year-old student, shared that many young people like her no longer watch newscasts or read newspapers, relying solely on social media platforms like X for their news. Without this platform, she felt disconnected. "I kind of lost touch with what's going on around the world," she said. "I saw a lot of entertainment there too, so this is a new reality for me."

On the first day without X, many Brazilians say they feel disconnected from the world

The blocking of social media platform X in Brazil divided users and politicians over the legitimacy of the ban, and many Brazilians on Saturday had difficulty and doubts over navigating other social media in its absence. The shutdown of Elon Musk's platform started early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through mobile apps after the billionaire refused to name a legal representative to the country, missing a deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The blockade marks an escalation in a monthslong feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, with tens of millions of users. Also Read: Mastercard wants to get rid of card numbers for online shopping to prevent online payment fraud "I've got the feeling that I have no idea what's happening in the world right now. Bizarre," entertainment writer and heavy X user Chico Barney wrote on Threads. Threads is a text-based app developed by Instagram that Barney was using as an alternative. "This Threads algorithm is like an all-you-can-eat restaurant where the waiter keeps serving things I would never order." 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 couple of 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. Previous users of other platforms welcomed Brazilians to their ranks. "Hello literally everyone in Brazil," a user wrote on Threads. "We're a lot nicer than Twitter here," said another. Platform migration isn't new for Brazilians. They were huge adopters of Orkut and, when Orkut went kaput, they very gladly moved to other platforms. X is not as popular in Brazil as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok. However, it remains an important platform on which Brazilians engage in political debates and is highly influential among politicians, journalists and other opinion makers. It's also where they share their sense of humor. Many of the country's most famous memes originate from posts on X before spreading to other social networks. Last week, for instance, Brazilians collaboratively crafted an absurd storyline for a fictional telenovela, complete with a theme song created using artificial intelligence tools. Pop stars and their fanbases were also hit by Brazilians being left off the platform. "Wait a lot of my fan pages are Brazilian!!! Come back hold up!!," Cardi B said Friday on X. A fan page dedicated to Timothée Chalamet, known by the handle TimotheeUpdates, said it would temporarily cease updating as all of its administrators are Brazilian. De Moraes said X will stay suspended until it complies with his orders, and he also set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for people or companies using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access it. Some legal experts questioned the grounds for that decision and how it would be enforced. Others suggested the move was authoritarian. Also Read: Don't put your iPhone into a bag of rice if you accidentally dropped it in water, do this instead 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. Brazil's bar association argued that sanctions should never be imposed summarily before ensuring an adversarial process and the right to full defense. "I've used VPNs a lot in authoritarian countries like China to continue accessing news sites and social networks," Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said on the platform before its shutdown. "It never occurred to me that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. It's dystopian." A search Friday on X showed hundreds of Brazilian users inquiring about VPNs that could potentially enable them to continue using the platform by making it appear they are logging on from outside the country. "Tyrants want to turn Brazil into another commie dictatorship but we won't back down. I repeat: do not vote on those who don't respect free speech. Orwell was right," right-wing congressman Nikolas Ferreira, one of former President Jair Bolsonaro's closest allies, published before X went off. Musk replied with an emoji suggesting agreement: "100". Ferreira is a 28-year-old YouTuber who received the most votes of the 513 elected federal lawmakers in the 2022 election. De Moraes ordered the block of his social media accounts after a mob of Bolsonaro supporters attacked Brazil's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court in January 2023 seeking to overturn the election. Lawmaker Bia Kicis said "the consequences of Alexandre de Moraes' attacks to Elon Musk, X and Starlink will be regrettable for Brazilians." She also urged Rodrigo Pacheco, the president of the country's Senate, to act. Kicis has repeatedly urged Pacheco to open impeachment proceedings against the Supreme Court justice. "We need to leave this state of apathy and stop the worst from happening," the pro-Bolsonaro lawmaker, whose profiles were temporarily blocked by de Moraes in 2022, also said. The former president said Saturday on Instagram that X's departure from Brazil was "another blow to our freedom and legal security." "It not only affects our freedom of expression, but also undermines the confidence of international companies in operating on Brazilian soil, with impacts ranging from national security to the quality of the information that reaches our citizens," Bolsonaro said. On Friday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backed de Moraes' decision and took aim at Musk for positioning himself as though he was above the law during an interview with Radio MaisPB. "Any citizen, from anywhere in the world, who has investments in Brazil, is subject to the Brazilian Constitution and Brazilian laws. Therefore, if the Supreme Court has made a decision for citizens to comply with certain things, they either have to comply or take another course of action," Lula said. "It's not because the guy has a lot of money that he can disrespect it." Ana Júlia Alves de Oliveira, an 18-year-old student, shared that many young people like her no longer watch newscasts or read newspapers, relying solely on social media platforms like X for their news. Without this platform, she felt disconnected. "I kind of lost touch with what's going on around the world," she said. "I saw a lot of entertainment there too, so this is a new reality for me."

On the First Day Without X, Many Brazilians Say They Feel Disconnected From the World

SAO PAULO (AP) -- The blocking of social media platform X in Brazil divided users and politicians over the legitimacy of the ban, and many Brazilians on Sunday had difficulty and doubts over navigating other social media in its absence. The shutdown of Elon Musk's platform started early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through mobile apps after the billionaire refused to name a legal representative to the country, missing a deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The blockade marks an escalation in a monthslong feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Brazil has been one of the biggest markets for X, with tens of millions of users. "I've got the feeling that I have no idea what's happening in the world right now. Bizarre," entertainment writer and heavy X user Chico Barney wrote on Threads, a text-based app developed by Instagram that Barney was using as an alternative. "This Threads algorithm is like an all-you-can-eat restaurant where the waiter keeps serving things I would never order." 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 couple of 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. Previous users of other platforms welcomed Brazilians to their ranks. "Hello literally everyone in Brazil," a user wrote on Threads. "We're a lot nicer than Twitter here," said another. Platform migration isn't uncommon for Brazilians, who were huge adopters of Orkut, and when Orkut went kaput, they very gladly moved to other platforms. X is not as popular in Brazil as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok. However, it remains an important platform on which Brazilians engage in political debates and is highly influential among politicians, journalists and other opinion makers. It's also where they share their sense of humor. Many of the country's most famous memes originate from posts on X before spreading to other social networks. Last week, for instance, Brazilians collaboratively crafted an absurd storyline for a fictional telenovela, complete with a theme song created using artificial intelligence tools. Pop stars and their fanbases were also hit by Brazilians being left off the platform. "Wait a lot of my fan pages are Brazilian!!! Come back hold up!!," Cardi B said Friday on X. A fan page dedicated to Timothée Chalamet, known by the handle TimotheeUpdates, said it would temporarily cease updating as all of its administrators are Brazilian. De Moraes said X will stay suspended until it complies with his orders, and he also set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for people or companies using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access it. Some legal experts questioned the grounds for that decision and how it would be enforced. Others suggested the move was authoritarian. 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. "I've used VPNs a lot in authoritarian countries like China to continue accessing news sites and social networks," Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said on the platform before its shutdown. "It never occurred to me that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. It's dystopian." A search Friday on X showed hundreds of Brazilian users inquiring about VPNs that could potentially enable them to continue using the platform by making it appear they are logging on from outside the country. "Tirants want to turn Brazil into another commie dictatorship but we won't back down. I repeat: do not vote on those who don't respect free speech. Orwell was right," right-wing congressman Nikolas Ferreira, one of former President Jair Bolsonaro's closest allies, published before X went off. Musk replied with an emoji suggesting agreement: "100". Ferreira is a 28-year-old YouTuber who received the most votes of the 513 elected federal lawmakers in the 2022 election. De Moraes ordered the block of his social media accounts after a mob of Bolsonaro supporters attacked Brazil's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court in January 2023 seeking to overturn the election. Lawmaker Bia Kicis said "the consequences of Alexandre de Moraes' attacks to Elon Musk, X and Starlink will be regrettable for Brazilians." She also urged Rodrigo Pacheco, the president of the country's Senate, to act. Kicis has repeatedly urged Pacheco to open impeachment proceedings against the Supreme Court justice. "We need to leave this state of apathy and stop the worst from happening," the pro-Bolsonaro lawmaker, whose profiles were blocked by de Moraes in 2022, also said. The former president said Saturday on Instagram that X's departure from Brazil was "another blow to our freedom and legal security." "It not only affects our freedom of expression, but also undermines the confidence of international companies in operating on Brazilian soil, with impacts ranging from national security to the quality of the information that reaches our citizens," Bolsonaro said. On Friday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backed de Moraes' decision and took aim at Musk for positioning himself as though he was above the law during an interview with Radio MaisPB. "Any citizen, from anywhere in the world, who has investments in Brazil, is subject to the Brazilian Constitution and Brazilian laws. Therefore, if the Supreme Court has made a decision for citizens to comply with certain things, they either have to comply or take another course of action," Lula said. "It's not because the guy has a lot of money that he can disrespect it." Ana Júlia Alves de Oliveira, an 18-year-old student, shared that many young people like her no longer watch newscasts or read newspapers, relying solely on social media platforms like X for their news. Without this platform, she felt disconnected. "I kind of lost touch with what's going on around the world," she said. "I saw a lot of entertainment there too, so this is a new reality for me." ___ Ortutay reported from San Francisco and Biller from Rio de Janeiro. Associated Press writers Mauricio Savarese and Felipe Campos Mello contributed from Sao Paulo. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

On first day without X, many Brazilians say they feel disconnected from world

The X account of Elon Musk in seen blocked on a mobile screen in this illustration after Brazil's telecommunications regulator suspended access to Elon Musk's X social network in the country to comply with an order from a judge who has been locked in a months-long feud with the billionaire investor, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Aug. 31. Reuters-Yonhap The blocking of social media platform X in Brazil divided users and politicians over the legitimacy of the ban, and many Brazilians on Saturday had difficulty and doubts over navigating other social media in its absence. The shutdown of Elon Musk's platform started early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through mobile apps after the billionaire refused to name a legal representative to the country, missing a deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The blockade marks an escalation in a monthslong feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, with tens of millions of users. "I've got the feeling that I have no idea what's happening in the world right now. Bizarre," entertainment writer and heavy X user Chico Barney wrote on Threads. Threads is a text-based app developed by Instagram that Barney was using as an alternative. "This Threads algorithm is like an all-you-can-eat restaurant where the waiter keeps serving things I would never order." 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 couple of 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. Previous users of other platforms welcomed Brazilians to their ranks. "Hello literally everyone in Brazil," a user wrote on Threads. "We're a lot nicer than Twitter here," said another. Platform migration isn't new for Brazilians. They were huge adopters of Orkut and, when Orkut went kaput, they very gladly moved to other platforms. X is not as popular in Brazil as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok. However, it remains an important platform on which Brazilians engage in political debates and is highly influential among politicians, journalists and other opinion makers. It's also where they share their sense of humor. Many of the country's most famous memes originate from posts on X before spreading to other social networks. Last week, for instance, Brazilians collaboratively crafted an absurd storyline for a fictional telenovela, complete with a theme song created using artificial intelligence tools. Pop stars and their fanbases were also hit by Brazilians being left off the platform. "Wait a lot of my fan pages are Brazilian!!! Come back hold up!!," Cardi B said Friday on X. A fan page dedicated to Timothée Chalamet, known by the handle TimotheeUpdates, said it would temporarily cease updating as all of its administrators are Brazilian. De Moraes said X will stay suspended until it complies with his orders, and he also set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for people or companies using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access it. Some legal experts questioned the grounds for that decision and how it would be enforced. Others suggested the move was authoritarian. Brazil's Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes attends an event where he received a tribute by the Public Ministry of Sao Paulo, after the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered an immediate suspension of social media platform X in the country, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Aug. 30. Reuters-Yonhap 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. Brazil's bar association argued that sanctions should never be imposed summarily before ensuring an adversarial process and the right to full defense. "I've used VPNs a lot in authoritarian countries like China to continue accessing news sites and social networks," Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said on the platform before its shutdown. "It never occurred to me that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. It's dystopian." A search Friday on X showed hundreds of Brazilian users inquiring about VPNs that could potentially enable them to continue using the platform by making it appear they are logging on from outside the country. "Tyrants want to turn Brazil into another commie dictatorship but we won't back down. I repeat: do not vote on those who don't respect free speech. Orwell was right," right-wing congressman Nikolas Ferreira, one of former President Jair Bolsonaro's closest allies, published before X went off. Musk replied with an emoji suggesting agreement: "100." Ferreira is a 28-year-old YouTuber who received the most votes of the 513 elected federal lawmakers in the 2022 election. De Moraes ordered the block of his social media accounts after a mob of Bolsonaro supporters attacked Brazil's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court in January 2023 seeking to overturn the election. Lawmaker Bia Kicis said "the consequences of Alexandre de Moraes' attacks to Elon Musk, X and Starlink will be regrettable for Brazilians." She also urged Rodrigo Pacheco, the president of the country's Senate, to act. Kicis has repeatedly urged Pacheco to open impeachment proceedings against the Supreme Court justice. "We need to leave this state of apathy and stop the worst from happening," the pro-Bolsonaro lawmaker, whose profiles were temporarily blocked by de Moraes in 2022, also said. The former president said Saturday on Instagram that X's departure from Brazil was "another blow to our freedom and legal security." "It not only affects our freedom of expression, but also undermines the confidence of international companies in operating on Brazilian soil, with impacts ranging from national security to the quality of the information that reaches our citizens," Bolsonaro said. On Friday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backed de Moraes' decision and took aim at Musk for positioning himself as though he was above the law during an interview with Radio MaisPB. "Any citizen, from anywhere in the world, who has investments in Brazil, is subject to the Brazilian Constitution and Brazilian laws. Therefore, if the Supreme Court has made a decision for citizens to comply with certain things, they either have to comply or take another course of action," Lula said. "It's not because the guy has a lot of money that he can disrespect it." Ana Júlia Alves de Oliveira, an 18-year-old student, shared that many young people like her no longer watch newscasts or read newspapers, relying solely on social media platforms like X for their news. Without this platform, she felt disconnected. "I kind of lost touch with what's going on around the world," she said. "I saw a lot of entertainment there too, so this is a new reality for me." (AP)

Elon Musk's X goes dark in Brazil after supreme court's ruling

As the site went down, politicians hurried to share reactions to judicial efforts to police content before they lost access. Celebrities fired off posts directing fans to other networks, while experts in internet law opined -- including in posts on the fading X -- on the long-term ramifications. Also Read: New Amazon Alexa to use Claude AI as Amazon's own AI struggled: Report Many of X's 20 million users in Brazil, the world's fifth-most-online nation, were left to scour rival platforms after the Supreme Court ordered the immediate suspension late Friday because the billionaire refused to name a legal representative for the social network in the country. The question on Saturday was whether Musk would back down. The immediate signal from the world's richest man was an attack on Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who handed down the decision and has become the face of one of the biggest conflicts playing out globally over how much control governments have over social media. "He has supreme executive, judicial and legislative power, aka dictator," Musk posted on Saturday. The extent of the X blackout wasn't immediately clear on Saturday. Earlier in the day, thousands of users reported problems to Downdetector, a website that tracks service disruptions. The site registered a spike of complaints just after midnight that continued throughout the day. "Sorry something went wrong," X's site told users. As of late Friday, social media network Bluesky had reported 500,000 new sign-ups in Brazil over a 48-hour period, which included many of the nation's well-known left-wing politicians. The ban also stripped thousands of candidates of a popular campaign tool, especially in conservative circles, ahead of local elections taking place in October across more than 5,000 Brazilian municipalities. Thaynara Oliveira Gomes, a Brazilian influencer who has over one million followers on X, said in a text message: "It is regrettable to lose this platform because it is extremely popular in Brazil." While the US tends toward strong free-speech protections, many countries are taking aggressive steps to make companies more accountable for their online content. France just charged Telegram CEO Pavel Durov for allowing criminal activity on the messaging app. In Brazil, Moraes is spearheading a wide-reaching investigation into hate speech and vitriol that he says is endangering democratic institutions. Also Read: WhatsApp working on contact syncing facility after announcing multiple account feature "This is yet another chapter to hold technology companies accountable in the country," said Clara Iglesias Keller, a researcher at the WZB Berlin Social Sciences Center who studies information technology regulation. "But this case has whole different level of visibility." Praise or condemnation of the ban largely fell along party lines. Conservatives have long slammed Moraes for attacking their cause. Supporters of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva often praise the judge for cleaning up the internet. Gleisi Hoffmann, the president of Lula's Workers' Party, called Musk "a spoiled, overbearing and arrogant playboy" in a post on Instagram on Friday. He "dreams of new foreign interference in the sovereignty of South American countries." The bulk of the accounts that Moraes ordered X to take down belong to supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who used the platform to question the right-wing leader's election loss in 2022 and praise rioters who later stormed the capital on the false contention that Lula stole the vote. Moraes' latest move pours gasoline on longstanding accusations of censorship of right-wing politicians, who rely on social media to interact with their supporters. Many have called for impeaching the judge, but those efforts have so far failed to gain traction in Congress.Al "Alexandre de Moraes equates us to countries like Iran, North Korea and China by banning X," representative Julia Zanatta, a conservative lawmaker who has been critical of Moraes, said in a statement. "We are already officially a dictatorship." Moraes' order will likely have to move through the court's plenary, though political observers say it's unlikely to be overturned. Many internet users in Brazil raised alarm about an initial order threatening anyone using a virtual private network, or VPN, to access X with a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900). Hours after his initial decision, Moraes amended the order leaving out his directives to app stores to remove VPNs. But some digital experts remain concerned about the orders' lasting effects for internet users. It's "the most extreme judicial decision we've had so far in 30 years of the internet in Brazil," said Carlos Affonso Souza, head of the Institute for Technology & Society at Rio de Janeiro State University.