Last Monday, five judges on Brazil’s highest court met to discuss banning X. They voted to agree with an earlier decision made by Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
The decision was about making the company that controls internet connections in Brazil, called Anatel, stop people accessing X. Moraes made this ruling on Friday. He did it because Elon Musk, who now owns X, did not listen to other court orders. The judges wanted Musk to block some user accounts and also pick a legal contact person for the company in Brazil.
Four other judges have since said they also agree with the ban. Three fully backed what Moraes decided. One other judge, Luiz Fux, thought people should only get fined for using workarounds like VPNs if they post illegal things like Nazi or fascist messages.
Since the ban, lots of Brazilians have made new accounts on other sites like Bluesky. News sites in Brazil have also had to move their X accounts to other countries like Portugal.
Starlink, the satellite internet run by Musk’s SpaceX company, told Anatel it will not block X either. For now, people can still access X using Starlink. However, the court has blocked Starlink from doing business in Brazil until they pay $3 million in fines owed by X.
The judges gave internet providers and app stores until this Wednesday to cut off access to X in Brazil. It remains to be seen if Starlink will comply or if the ban will be fully enforced.
