Official announcements from Brazil's Supreme Court and major news outlets

Brazil's Supreme Court Bans X, Imposes $900,000 Daily Fines After Cloudflare Software Update

Sep 18, 2024, 11:33 PM

Brazil's Supreme Court banned the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, citing concerns about misinformation and its potential influence on the electorate. Despite the ban, which affected 22 million users, many Brazilian users regained access to X after the platform implemented a software update that utilized Cloudflare's services to dynamically change IP addresses, making it difficult for the ban to be enforced. The Brazilian government responded by imposing fines of up to $900,000 per day on X and Starlink for non-compliance, and seized $3.3 million from their bank accounts. The White House condemned Brazil's actions as an attack on free speech, and several U.S. politicians urged the State Department to take action. X has since gone offline again following a court order, and the platform has appointed legal representatives to address the matter in Brazil. Users who attempted to access X using VPNs risked fines of up to 50,000 reais per day. The ban lasted for 18 days before the platform temporarily regained access.