Brazil X / Twitter Ban Controversy

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Overview

Brazil X / Twitter Ban Controversy refers to the possible ban of Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly Twitter, in Brazil after the company failed to name a legal representative in August 2024 in the country as ordered by the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Judge Alexandre de Moraes. Musk responded to the judge's order with insults, calling de Moraes a "tyrant" and "a dictator," which sparked more discussions and memes about the social media platform's possible ban in Brazil. On October 8th, 2024, X was unbanned in Brazil after the company paid a fine of $US 5 million (R$28 million).

Background

On August 17th, 2024, X announced it would close its operations in Brazil, claiming Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Judge Alexandre de Moraes threatened to arrest its legal representative in the country if they did not comply with their orders.^[1]

That same day, the X^[2] Global Affairs account shared a statement alleging "censorship orders" from de Moraes and that his actions "are incompatible with democratic government." The post (seen below) amassed over 126,000 likes and 41,000 reposts in two weeks.

X Global Government Affairs @GlobalAffairs ☑ Last night, Alexandre de Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders. He did so in a secret order, which we share here to expose his actions. Despite our numerous appeals to the Supreme Court not being heard, the Brazilian public not being informed about these orders and our Brazilian staff having no responsibility or control over whether content is blocked on our platform, Moraes has chosen to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process. As a result, to protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operation in Brazil, effective immediately. The X service remains available to the people of Brazil. We are deeply saddened that we have been forced to make this decision. The responsibility lies solely with Alexandre de Moraes. His actions are incompatible with democratic government. The people of Brazil have a choice to make - democracy, or Alexandre de Moraes.

Developments

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Ban X

On August 28th, 2024, Alexandre de Moraes issued an ultimatum to X CEO Elon Musk, demanding that Musk inform him who the company's legal representative in Brazil is within 24 hours. If the order was not complied with, the platform would've been immediately suspended in Brazilian territory.^[3]

YouTuber^[4] @TLDRdaily posted a video on August 29th, 2024, explaining de Moraes' ultimatum against X (seen below), which amassed roughly 44,000 views and 2,600 likes in a day.

Elon Musk's Response

On August 29th, 2024, Elon Musk^[5] called Brazilian Judge Alexandre de Moraes a "dictator" and said that Brazil's President Lula da Silva was his lapdog on his X account. The tweet (seen below) came after de Moraes blocked the financial accounts of his internet satellite company Starlink in Brazil. Musk's post amassed over 216,000 likes and 42,000 reposts in a day.

X Elon Musk @elonmusk Follow The tyrant, @Alexandre, is dictator of Brazil. Lula is his lapdog. DogeDesigner @cb_doge BREAKING: Alexandre de Moraes blocks financial accounts of Starlink in Brazil. All Starlink managers in Brazil have been notified and summoned to address the amounts owed to Brazilian courts by the X, as per Metrópoles. 12:36 PM - Aug 29, 2024 GRESSO ORDEM O

A day later, on August 30th, Musk then started calling^[6] the Brazilian Judge "Dictator de Voldemort" for what some perceived as a resemblance between de Moraes and the Harry Potter villain Voldemort. That same day, the X CEO also reposted an image comparing de Moraes with the fictional character (seen below), amassing over 100,000 likes and 8,800 respots in a few hours.

Elon Musk X @elonmusk Follow DogeDesigner @cb_doge The resemblance is uncanny. 8:02 AM Aug 30, 2024 X

October 2024 X Return On Brazil

On October 8th, 2024, Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes authorized the return of X in Brazil.^[9] after the company correctly paid a fine of $US 5 million (R$28 million). Moraes said that the return of the social network depends on internet providers.^[10]

Netizens celebrated Brazilians' return to X with memes and jokes. For example, on October 8th, 2024, X^[11] user @jjeanlll posted a video captioned "WELCOME BACK BRAZIL" (seen below), which garnered over 794,000 views and 49,000 likes in a day.

WELCOME BACK BRAZIL https://t.co/kY84E2G4mc pic.twitter.com/rXG0twjfhU

— JJAN🎃 (@jjeanlll) October 8, 2024

Online Reactions

News of the potential X ban in Brazil and the controversy between Elon Musk and Judge Alexandre de Moraes sparked a series of discussions on the social media platform in late August 2024, including jokes shared by Brazilians about the migration to other platforms in case the shutdown occurs.

For instance, on August 29th, 2024, X^[7] user @not_weav posted about the Brazilian Miku trend, writing, "The country gives you a cute art trend… and you ban it," which received roughly 11,000 likes and 1,000 reposts in a day.

weav (parody) @not_weav⚫ Follow the country gives you a cute art trend... and Abstract NG @AbstractPurple > massive trend about brazilian miku > twitter gets banned from brazil a week later 3:45 PM - Aug 29, 2024 you ban it X

On August 29th, 2024, X^[8] user @lobisomempidao posted a reaction video of a bald man walking in hills joking about de Moraes after he banned X from Brazil. The post (seen below) amassed more than 15,000 likes and 2,100 reposts in a day.