Twitter (X) Now Suspended in Brazil – Why?

Reside in Brazil and found that your Twitter account suspended? There’s a good reason for that – Twitter, now X, has been banned in Brazil. In this blog, we figure out what’d happened.

Preface

Late August, news broke that a Brazilian lawmaker and a minister of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil, Alexandre de Moraes, has ordered the “immediate and complete suspension” of X or Twitter headed by Elon Musk because it apparently didn’t comply with all court orders.

What Led to X Being Suspended?

It should be noted that the feud between Twitter (X) and Brazil has said to have begun as early as in April where the Brazilian judge has ordered the suspension of multiple accounts within the X platform that were said to spread disinformation, to which Musk replied that “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy” and remarked that a judge in Brazil may be trying to destroy it. As time went by, X, or Twitter, became no longer available in Brazil, and some may think that their Twitter account suspended, but that’s not the case – according to X, they have now closed their offices in Brazil after some of their representatives have been threatened with arrest in case it wouldn’t comply with orders given by Brazilian judges.

It’s unclear whether Twitter will get back on track for users in Brazil – time will tell.

Replacements of X in Brazil

As a result, some people wonder what services, if any, could replace the social media goliath. According to WSJ, many users that can no longer access the social media platform as a result of their Twitter account suspended are now turning to a service called Bluesky. Some say that Bluesky has welcomed around a million people from Brazil since X, or Twitter has been banned in the country.

Upon initial inspection, Bluesky appears to be very similar to X: users can post posts similar to tweets, retweet, comment, and like them, even the main colors of the platform are blue-cyan focused. According to their About page, Bluesky is a social media app that isn’t controlled by a single entity, company, or individual.

According to Bluesky, it differs from traditional social networks in that it doesn’t have a central authority it’s ruled under. Bluesky is built under the AT Protocol and it’s referred to as the Authenticated Transfer Protocol that launched in February 2023 and enables decentralization by having multiple providers for every part of the system, makes it easy for users to switch providers, and aims to provide a simple yet intuitive user experience.

Reclaiming Privacy and Security with BreachDirectory

Aside from the ban on X, one thing that plagues Brazilian users is the privacy of their accounts on the web. With data breaches being so rampant, it’s crucial to know how best to protect yourself against them and how to go about doing so. Consider using data breach search engines – the data breach search engine built by BreachDirectory will not only let you see what websites have had their data leaked, but also enable you to search through vast troves of leaked data and inform you whether your email, username, IP address, or website domain is at risk of identity theft. If it is, it will tell you what data has been stolen and why, enabling you to take action and protect yourself from identity theft, credential stuffing, and related attack vectors.

Summary

Many users in Brazil experienced the fact that they cannot access the platform – the reasons may initially have been unclear, but nowadays, it’s known that X has been banned by the Brazilian government and law makers for its failure to comply with orders from Brazil.

While the frustration of Brazilian users is understandable, the users of X shouldn’t be very disappointed as there are multiple other sources that can replace the platform (one of those is Bluesky), and there are no indications that the ban is permanent – perhaps the beloved platform will be accessible again shortly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Did Brazil Ban Elon Musk‘s Twitter?

Initially, many people in Brazil could‘ve assumed that their Twitter account suspended, but it turns out that the platform was banned by Brazilian lawmakers for its failure to comply with the requests from a Brazilian judge.

Is the Brazil’s Ban on X Permanent?

There are no news on that yet – hopefully the ban will be lifted soon.

Why Should I Use BreachDirectory?

Consider using data breach search engines (DBSE) such as BreachDirectory to further your account security on the web and beyond: such data breach search engines will not only provide a listing which websites could’ve been breached but also allow you to search through leaked data to determine whether your account credentials could’ve been exposed.