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Brazilians are fighting back against the country’s ban of social media platform “X,” causing a surge in demand for VPNs despite threats that users who find workarounds to access Elon Musk’s site could be fined around $9,000 a day.
X was banned in Brazil on Friday, escalating a months-long public battle between Musk and Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes over content moderation and free speech. Musk has previously refused to comply with de Moraes’ orders to remove content linked to far-right groups, claiming the judge’s demands amount to censorship.
In his order ordering social media site X to cease operations in the country, Governor de Moraes said X would remain banned in Brazil until it complies with his order to appoint a legal representative in the country to respond to government requests to suspend its accounts in Brazil. He also warned that Brazilians would be fined 50,000 reais ($8,900) a day if individuals or companies used VPNs to circumvent the ban, an amount that is more than the average Brazilian earns in a year. The New York Times.
Despite the possibility of heavy fines, the site’s analysis found that demand for VPNs has surged 1,600% in the country. VPN Mentorhelps people find and use VPNs to protect their privacy online.
X alternatives Bluesky and Threads are also seeing an increase in new users. 500,000 new users In recent days, and the company Reported It saw “an all-time high in activity” on the platform. Similarly, threads have seen an influx of new users. X’s alternatives were #1 and #2. Most Downloaded iPhone Apps A weekend in the countryside.
While the site is not as popular in Brazil as Facebook, YouTube or TikTok, average Brazilians say they feel cut off from the world without X, according to the Associated Press. Some worry the ban is repressive and hypocritical, given De Moraes’ goal of fighting authoritarian extremism in the country.
“In authoritarian countries like China, VPNs have been used frequently to maintain access to news sites and social networks,” Mauricio Santoro, a political science professor at Rio de Janeiro State University, said in an X post before the blockade went into effect, as translated by The Associated Press. “I never imagined that this kind of tool would be banned in Brazil. It’s dystopian.”
A representative for X did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.