Elon Musk’s X faced an abrupt shutdown in Brazil, following an order from the country’s top court, thrusting Latin America’s largest nation into the global debate over internet regulation and freedom of speech.
As the platform started to vanish, politicians scrambled to voice their opinions on the court’s actions before losing access. Celebrities quickly directed their fans to other social networks, while legal experts took to X to discuss the potential long-term consequences of the shutdown.
The court’s decision late Friday night to suspend X was a result of Musk’s refusal to appoint a legal representative for the platform in Brazil. This left many of X’s 20 million users in the country—one of the most connected nations globally—scrambling for alternatives. By Saturday, it remained unclear whether Musk would comply, but he immediately lashed out at Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who issued the suspension order and is at the center of this high-profile dispute over governmental control of social media.
Musk criticized de Moraes on Saturday, stating, “He has supreme executive, judicial, and legislative power, aka dictator,” marking a significant escalation in the conflict.
Reports from Downdetector indicated thousands of complaints from users experiencing service disruptions. The complaints surged shortly after midnight and continued throughout the day, with X displaying error messages such as “Sorry, something went wrong.”
In response to the shutdown, rival social network Bluesky reported a sharp increase in Brazilian users, with 500,000 new sign-ups in just 48 hours. Among the new users were many prominent left-wing politicians, seeking alternative platforms ahead of the upcoming local elections across Brazil’s 5,000 municipalities.
Thaynara Oliveira Gomes, a popular Brazilian influencer with over a million followers on X, lamented the situation, stating, “It’s regrettable to lose this platform because it is extremely popular in Brazil.”
Globally, different approaches to regulating online content are emerging. While the US upholds robust free speech protections, other nations are moving to hold tech companies accountable for harmful content. In France, for example, Telegram’s CEO was recently charged for allowing criminal activities on the messaging app. In Brazil, Justice de Moraes is spearheading a comprehensive investigation into hate speech, arguing that such content poses a threat to democratic institutions.
“This case is yet another effort to hold tech companies accountable in Brazil,” said Clara Iglesias Keller, a researcher at WZB Berlin Social Sciences Center. “But it’s taking on a new level of global visibility.”
Reactions to the ban were sharply divided along political lines. Conservative voices accused Justice de Moraes of censorship, while supporters of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva praised his efforts to regulate harmful content. Gleisi Hoffmann, leader of Lula’s Workers’ Party, criticized Musk on Instagram, calling him “a spoiled, overbearing, and arrogant playboy” who “dreams of new foreign interference in the sovereignty of South American countries.”
The majority of the accounts targeted by the court belonged to supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been vocal on X about his claims of election fraud and support for the riots that followed Lula’s victory in 2022. Moraes’ decision has reignited accusations of censorship against right-wing figures, who rely heavily on social media to engage with their base.
“Alexandre de Moraes equates us to countries like Iran, North Korea, and China by banning X,” stated conservative lawmaker Julia Zanatta. “We are already officially a dictatorship.”
As the situation unfolds, the battle between Musk and Brazil’s judiciary highlights the broader struggle over free speech and government control in the digital age.
