Elon Musk's X Is Back in Brazil after Its Suspension, Having Complied with All Judicial Demands

Photo illustration of the logo of the social media platform X (former Twitter) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 30, 2024. (AFP)
Photo illustration of the logo of the social media platform X (former Twitter) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 30, 2024. (AFP)
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Elon Musk's X Is Back in Brazil after Its Suspension, Having Complied with All Judicial Demands

Photo illustration of the logo of the social media platform X (former Twitter) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 30, 2024. (AFP)
Photo illustration of the logo of the social media platform X (former Twitter) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 30, 2024. (AFP)

Social media platform X began returning to Brazil on Wednesday, after remaining inaccessible for more than a month following a clash between its owner, Elon Musk, and a justice on the country’s highest court.

Internet service providers began restoring access to the platform after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes authorized lifting X’s suspension on Tuesday.

De Moraes ordered the shutdown of X on Aug. 30 after a monthslong dispute with Musk over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation.

Musk had disparaged de Moraes, calling him an authoritarian and a censor, although his rulings, including X’s nationwide suspension, were repeatedly upheld by his peers.

Musk’s company ultimately complied with all of de Moraes’ demands. They included blocking certain accounts from the platform, paying outstanding fines and naming a legal representative. Failure to do the latter had triggered the suspension.

Brazil — a highly online country of 213 million people — is one of X’s biggest markets, with estimates of its user base ranging from 20 million to 40 million.



Türkiye Blocks Instant Messaging Platform Discord

Street vendors sell corn and traditional Turkish backeray "Simit" as people pass by their stands in the Eminonu district of Istanbul on August 30, 2024. (AFP)
Street vendors sell corn and traditional Turkish backeray "Simit" as people pass by their stands in the Eminonu district of Istanbul on August 30, 2024. (AFP)
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Türkiye Blocks Instant Messaging Platform Discord

Street vendors sell corn and traditional Turkish backeray "Simit" as people pass by their stands in the Eminonu district of Istanbul on August 30, 2024. (AFP)
Street vendors sell corn and traditional Turkish backeray "Simit" as people pass by their stands in the Eminonu district of Istanbul on August 30, 2024. (AFP)

Türkiye has blocked access to instant messaging platform Discord following a court decision, the country's infotech regulator said on Wednesday.

Türkiye’s Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) published the access ban decision on its website.

Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said a court in the capital Ankara decided to remove access from Türkiye to San Francisco-based Discord due to sufficient suspicion that the crimes of "child sexual abuse and obscenity" have been committed.

"We are determined to protect our youth and children from the harmful publications of social media and the internet that constitute crimes. We will never allow attempts to shake the foundations of our social structure," Tunc also said in a post on X.

The access ban decision comes after public outrage caused by the murder of two women, perpetrated by a 19-year-old man earlier this month.

Following the incident, content on social media showed some users of Discord were praising the killing which led to public outrage against certain communities on the platform.

On Tuesday, Russia's communications regulator blocked Discord for violating Russian law, after previously fining the company for failing to remove banned content, the TASS news agency reported.