Brazilian justice ordered on Thursday that the social network X once again block access to its platform in Brazil, under penalty of a daily fine of around 820,000 euros, after a partial resumption of the service deemed “deliberate”.
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Some of the platform’s approximately 22 million users in Brazil were surprised on Wednesday to have access to it again on their mobile phones.
However, on August 30, Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the blocking of the social network owned by American billionaire Elon Musk, for having ignored a series of court decisions related to the fight against disinformation.
Thursday saw the counterattack of the Brazilian authorities, who the day before had been clearly taken by surprise by the surprise return of X.
Judge Moraes ordered X to block his service again or face a fine of 5 million reais (around 820,000 euros) per day.
In his ruling, the magistrate states that X “showed himself to be recalcitrant, unlawfully, persistently and with the intention of not respecting judicial orders.”
X had assured on Wednesday evening that the restoration of its service was an “involuntary” effect of a change of server and would remain “temporary”.
Right-left battle
But the Brazilian telecommunications agency (Anatel) said in a statement on Thursday that “the behavior of the X network showed a deliberate intention to circumvent the order of the Supreme Court.” The agency assured that it would take “the necessary measures in the event of new attempts to circumvent the suspension.”
“Thanks to the support of telecommunications operators and the (cybersecurity) company Cloudflare, it was possible to identify a mechanism that we hope (…) can restore the blocking” of the platform, Anatel said.
According to the Brazilian Association of Internet Service Providers (Abrint), an industry group, “the X application was updated (…) during the night (from Tuesday to Wednesday), which resulted in a significant change in its structure.”
X’s reliance on Cloudflare, which uses constantly changing IP addresses, “makes blocking the app much more difficult,” Abrint explained Wednesday.
Previously, IP addresses (which identify Internet users’ devices) were fixed and easily blocked.
The platform’s suspension in Brazil has sparked a heated debate in Latin America’s largest country and beyond about the limits of free speech on social media.
Elon Musk had castigated the blockage, calling Judge Moraes a “dictator”. The Brazilian right led by former head of state Jair Bolsonaro followed suit.
The suspension was, however, supported by the government of left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in the name of respect for the law.
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