A majority of Brazilian judges on a Supreme Court panel vote to confirm an order to ban X in Brazil and fine those who don't comply with it by using a VPN

- Majority on panel backs order by Moraes against social network — Justices also uphold fine for those who use VPN for access

Bloomberg 2024-09-02 Daniel Carvalho

Context & Ripple Effects

Brazil had already blocked X after the company declined to appoint a local legal representative. The court then removed Apple and Google from the app-download enforcement requirement, narrowing the immediate role of mobile-platform gatekeepers.

The panel vote turns an individual justice's order into a court-backed enforcement position, making Brazil a consequential test of how far a national court can press a global platform and its users to comply.

First-order effects

X remains unavailable in Brazil under a panel-backed order, while people who use VPNs to bypass it face court-approved fines.
The ruling strengthens Justice Alexandre de Moraes's enforcement position; X must contend with the order through compliance or an appeal rather than treating it solely as a single-judge dispute.

Second-order effects

Because Apple and Google were no longer required to prevent downloads, enforcement is centered on access restrictions and penalties rather than app-store removal, limiting those companies' immediate exposure while leaving X and users at the center of the dispute.
The decision raises the cost of operating without the local compliance arrangements sought by Brazilian authorities, putting pressure on X's approach to court orders in the market.

Third-order effects

If sustained, this approach would reinforce a model in which national courts can use service restrictions and user-level deterrents to compel platform compliance, even when the platform is globally operated.
Brazil's later ruling on platform accountability for certain illegal content points toward broader judicial oversight of social platforms; the boundary of that oversight will depend on how courts apply such duties in individual cases.

The trend: This is part of a broader shift toward courts treating platform access and local compliance as enforceable conditions of serving a national market.

Discussion

@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on threads
Play stupid games win stupid prizes.
London Evening Standard London Evening Standard on mastodon
X alternatives: Twitter users trying Threads, Bluesky and Mastodon
@the.brain.worm @the.brain.worm on threads
brazil Twitter was responsible for a lot of communities, the site isn't prepared for the fallout. brazillians have also been a rising location for contractor engineering hires and i am willing to bet my wormy body x has a few contractors who are about to have a problem working on…
@alfredo_liberal @alfredo_liberal on threads
Brazil taught us how to combat misinformation if we did what they did we would be better off
@lindadominguez637 Linda Dominguez on threads
To the people of Brazil, Welcome to Threads! We're nice here. Sejam bem-vindos
@goldengateblond Shauna Wright on threads
hello literally everyone in brazil
@irishpolyglot Benny Lewis on threads
Reason number 42,069 to not use X is that I'm in Brazil right now 😂
@wolfgangbremer Wolfgang Bremer on threads
👋 Hi, literally everyone in Brazil!
@mediumboi Ryan Simkins on threads
Welcome to Threads, Brazilian friends.💙 We're a lot nicer than Twitter here.
@maureenhastings4 Maureen Hastings on threads
Ah, yes. Welcome Brazil!
@technicallymims Christopher Mims on threads
Bluesky seems to be struggling with the massive influx of Brazilians after X was banned there. “Discover” tab is taking awhile to load; “Popular with friends” now seems either broken or switched off
@tedunderwoodillinois Ted Underwood on threads
That's a big chunk for Bluesky, and the surge is not over. It's going to be a different social network in a week, I think: less academics and left shitposting, more fandoms and pop culture. [Link to previous thread showing an image of the Brazilian Apple Store rankings one day …
@bsky.app @bsky.app on bluesky
wow... welcome to the ONE MILLION new users in the last three days!!! 🎉 — uau... bem-vindos ao UM MILHÃO de novos usuários nos últimos três dias!!! 🎉
@mmasnick.bsky.social Mike Masnick on bluesky
very time some Elon fan tweets a similar thing (often misleading) about ExTwitter topping some random chart, he immediately insists that the site is the only source for news. — So, I guess we can now claim that here. [embedded post]
@pfrazee.com Paul Frazee on bluesky
normally a third of users post each day, which is actually a high percentage, and that's currently at 50%
@rincewind.run Micah on bluesky
one of the really fun parts of the Brazilian takeover is watching a bunch of folks go “I don't get this but it seems neat so let me jump in anyway” — that is one of my favorite internet energies, so thank you to our new Brazilian friends for introducing the rest of us to their …
@darthputinkgb.bsky.social Darth Putin on bluesky
I'd like to welcome to Bluesky all my loyal serfs from Brazil.
@why.bsky.team @why.bsky.team on bluesky
Also pretty cool to note that we haven't added a single new server yet. We're working on getting some new PDS instances up, but those are relatively small and cheap, everything else is scaling in place. — Pretty huge advertisement for running your own hardware (and for AMD for…
@pfrazee.com Paul Frazee on bluesky
We added more image servers. Hopefully that will fix the slow load times for pictures.
@colormints.bsky.social @colormints.bsky.social on bluesky
the brazilian miku trend overlapping with both brazil getting forced off twitter and miku's birthday is such a curious timing honestly
@treacherous.tech @treacherous.tech on bluesky
Dunk on Elon all you like but do try to not end your country's internet freedom rights in the process. [embedded post]
@tomphillips.bsky.social Tom Phillips on bluesky
I hear some Brazilians saying they can still access Twitter but on my 2 connections it remains as dead as a dodô 🦤☠️
@lolennui.bsky.social Amy Ash on bluesky
bluesky has boys from brazil, twitter has Boys From Brazil
@robpegoraro.com Rob Pegoraro on bluesky
Interesting order of social networks in the post now pinned to the Xitter profile of Brazil's president. If a government wants to express its disapproval of a platform, taking its business elsewhere > ordering ISPs to block the service and threatening to fine people for using VP…
@samuel.bsky.team @samuel.bsky.team on bluesky
this is a brazilian website now [embedded post]
@rudyfraser.com @rudyfraser.com on bluesky
You've heard it from all the other devs but yeah, Blacksky almost doubled in new users, the database is at 100% cpu usage, and total daily visits has eclipsed every other major US news event this year. — Bom dia, Blacksky Brasil 🇧🇷
@andylevy.net @andylevy.net on bluesky
a bunch of u are sucking up to all the new brazilian bluesky users in a cheap and tawdry attempt to get more followers and i gotta say that first of all it's very unseemly and second of all i highly doubt it'll work because they're far too intelligent and attractive to fall for s…
@mackuba.eu Kuba Suder on bluesky
Ok language stats are completely insane at the moment :D — 24h: — Portuguese 73.7% !! (3.25M posts) — English 16.5% — Japanese 5.5% — German 1.6% — #BlueskyStats [embedded post]
@mynintendonews.bsky.social @mynintendonews.bsky.social on bluesky
A big welcome to the Brazilian Nintendo fan community 🤗🇧🇷
@thorgisarcade.bsky.social Aaron on bluesky
Bluesky today has that energy of “My friends and I just got fired but screw it, we're now going to finally open that bar we always talked about.” — Like the situation sucks and a lot of people are scared of what it could mean, but maybe we can actually get this crazy idea to wo…
@alexandrefiles Alexandre Files on x
Today, we begin shining a light on the abuses of Brazilian law committed by Alexandre de Moraes. We have been forced to share these orders because there is no transparency from the court, and the people who are being censored have no recourse to appeal. Our own appeals have bee…
r/Twitter r on reddit
With X Blocked, Brazilians Find New Homes for Their Thoughts | The platform went dark across Brazil on Saturday, sending online commentators to new digital town squares.
r/EnoughMuskSpam r on reddit
Bluesky tops app charts and sees ‘all-time-highs’ after Brazil bans X

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