Elon Musk's controversial social media platform X (formerly Twitter) is now facing a ban in Brazil after failing to assign a new legal representative to the company. It has also been accused of failing to stand its ground in upholding free speech.
Because of the ban, Brazilian X users are now flocking to alternative platforms, including its rival, Bluesky. As a result, Bluesky is now seeing an all-time high in the country.
This startup platform known to have been founded by Twitter's co-founder, Jack Dorsey, shortly after he left the Elon Musk-owned company's board.
X is Banned in Brazil After Failing to Hire a Representative
According to a local news website, Poder360, X is now banned in Brazil after Supreme Federal Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes ordered temporary limits on access to the platform. This is because X did not appoint a new legal representative after the company closed its offices in the country because of alleged threats.
Its legal troubles also started with X's refusal to filter the platform's content and remove certain users, with Musk claiming that free speech is for all.
This new order from Brazil's Supreme Court Minister also asked Apple and Google to remove X from their respective app marketplaces in the country. In addition to this, users who will be caught accessing X using VPNs will be fined 50,000 Brazilian real ($8,900) per day.
Former Brazilian X Users are now on Bluesky
Amidst all of this, one platform is thriving, and it is none other than X's rival, Bluesky. According to the latest announcement by the social media platform, Bluesky is seeing new all-time-high record in users in Brazil alone.
Brazil, you're setting new all-time-highs for activity on Bluesky! Brasil, você está estabelecendo novos recordes de atividade no Bluesky! — Bluesky (@bsky.app) Aug 31, 2024 at 4:56 AM
It was also added by Bluesky developer Paul Frazee (via The Verge) that this is the first time the platform saw this kind of traffic, and is expecting issues or outages on the platform as a result.
Elon Musk and X's Free Speech vs. Brazil
Elon Musk is known for his focus on promoting free speech for X, which he acquired in 2022. This quest for free speech has since damaged X's reputation, as its user base as well as business partners dimished in number due to their disapproval of the platform's operations.
Recently, X was under fire for allowing anti-semitic posts on social media, also entangling Musk in this controversy.
In Brazil, X's recent fiasco involved Brazil's Supreme Court after X failed to follow its orders to remove certain users and content relating to ex-Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro. This run-in with Brazil's justic system also got Musk in hot water with the country's minister of the Supreme Federal Court, Alexandre de Moraes.
Recently, X shut down its office in Brazil to reportedly protect its employees from de Moraes' alleged threats, but the platform remained available and Musk still upheld his free speech campaign. The threats of an X ban in Brazil has now become a reality after back-and-forth exchanges between both parties.
