Elon Musk’s X is currently the target of an unprecedented number of governments.
Caught between the constraints of authoritarian regimes and the scrutiny of democratic countries, X has been blocked to varying degrees by 37 countries since 2015.
Musk continues to clash relentlessly with heads of state, from Venezuela’s election-rigging “digital authoritarian” President Nicolás Maduro to recently elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, amid growing far-right riots.
Musk has aimed his latest attack on Brazil, specifically at Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, rather than President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Two weeks ago, X closed its office in Brazil after Moraes ordered the blocking of accounts accused of spreading disinformation. Many were in favor of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, the BBC reported.
In addition to imposing fines of R$100,000 ($19,774) per day for each account that X reactivated, Moraes also launched an investigation into Musk for charges including obstruction of justice. In a propositionX accused Moraes of “censorship orders” and said his actions were “incompatible with a democratic government”.
Moraes’ investigation is still ongoing and Brazilians still have access to X, but how long that will last is uncertain.
Brazil has ‘historic precedents’ of social media restrictions
While “the platform continues to operate in Brazil,” there is still a “significant” possibility that Brasilia will block access to X in the coming days or weeks, said Lina Survila, a spokesperson for cybersecurity firm Surfshark, which operates an internet shutdown tracker.
“It is challenging to predict whether the Brazilian government or the Supreme Court will block X, but the possibility remains significant,” Survila says. Pronunciation. “Historical precedents, such as the temporary blocking of WhatsApp and Telegram, show that Brazil’s legal framework allows for the restriction of social media platforms that do not comply with local content moderation laws. If X is seen as contributing to political instability, a government-imposed block could be a possible outcome.”
The five previous internet restrictions in Brazil were all imposed on Telegram or WhatsApp, with an average duration of 32 hours, according to Surfshark Tracker.
X has not yet been disrupted in Brazil. Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, Myanmar, North Korea, Venezuela and Turkmenistan are the eight countries that currently restrict Musk’s platform.
These authoritarian regimes are a group of countries that have largely imposed blanket bans on X and other social media platforms “to limit access to a free internet and thus maintain their power and the status quo,” said Laura Petrone, senior thematic analyst at GlobalData. “China, Russia, Iran and other authoritarian countries see them as a potential source of dissent.”
The thin line between ‘moderation and censorship’
At least 46 governments have imposed restrictions on social media or messaging apps over the past five years, with an average of 13 cases per year. These usually occur during periods of political unrest, such as the protests against Kenya’s controversial financial law end of June.
Petrone also points to Musk’s alleged claim that “freedom of speech” is the overarching raison d’être of social media – and the lack of regulation on X.
“Musk’s approach to freedom of expression on social media is increasingly at odds with the rules of democratic countries, such as the EU, which opened an investigation into X, together with Meta and TikTokfor violating the Digital Services Act,” Petrone said. Pronunciation“This is an attempt by Brussels and other countries like the UK to hold social media companies accountable for the content they publish on their platforms and to ensure a safe internet for the most vulnerable users.”
When Musk acquired X (then Twitter) in October 2022, he decided to fire nearly half of the platform’s employees, including many of the outsourced content moderators who monitored abuse.
Since then there has been a drastic – and measured – spike in hate speech, violent videos and polarizing content on X.
Last week, reports also emerged that X, Telegram and other social media platforms are being used by at least 68 Yemeni arms dealers to offer weapons for sale. Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov was subsequently arrested for failing to block illegal transactions, child sexual abuse and fraudulent content.
“As X relaxes its moderation policies, cases like this one (with Brazil’s Supreme Court) will become more common,” Petrone predicts. “The big dilemma for each country is to decide what the minimum level of moderation is required of social media companies and what the boundaries are between moderation and censorship.”
“37 countries have blocked access to X since 2015. Will Brazil follow suit?” was originally created and published by Pronunciationa brand of GlobalData.
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