Elon Musk's X claims brief access after Brazil ban was accidental, but telecom advisor suspects otherwise

Elon Musk's X says it accidentally restored access to the social media site in Brazil while changing network providers

Published on: Sep 20, 2024, 18:14:53 IST

By HT News Desk | Edited by Abhyjith K. Ashokan

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Elon Musk's X (Formerly Twitter) said it accidentally restored access to the social media site in Brazil when it changed network providers on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, two weeks after the country banned X.

X users in Brazil who who still had the app on their phones got an update suddenly

"While we expect the platform to be inaccessible again shortly, we continue efforts to work with the Brazilian government to return very soon for the people of Brazil," the company' posted on its Global Government Affairs account.

However, Basílio Rodriguez Pérez, an advisor to ABRINT, alleged that X's actions could have been intentional, according to a BBC report, which quoted him as saying, “everything that happened during the day led us to believe that it was on purpose.”

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X users in Brazil who who still had the app on their phones got an update, a Business Insider report cited the Brazilian Association of Internet and Telecommunications Providers (ABRINT) as saying and adding that they were able to access the site through IP addresses linked to cybersecurity firm Cloudfare which made “blocking the app much more complicated.”

Why was X banned in Brazil?

X got banned in Brazil following a feud between owner Elon Musk and Alexandre de Moraes, Justice of the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court, which started after Moraes asked X to remove over 100 accounts flagged for hate speech, misinformation, and attacks on democracy.

Though X initially agreed to comply, it later reversed the restrictions in April, stating "principles matter more than profit," to which, Moraes responded by warning of imposing hefty fines and investigating Musk for obstruction of justice, shortly before banning X entirely.

Moraes even threatened Brazillians with a fine of 50,000 Reals ($8,900) fine for trying to use VPNs to bypass the ban, according to a New York Times report.

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HT News Desk
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