São Paulo, Brazil – After a very public spat between Brazil’s Supreme Court and X owner Elon Musk, which led to the social media company being banned in the country on August 30, many Brazilians have looked to other social platforms like Bluesky and Threads.
Still others remain active on X, accessing the site via virtual private networks (VPNs), despite a potential fine of R$50,000 (US$8,900).
Last month, tensions over allegations by Brazil’s highest court that X refused to comply with multiple orders to suspend posts and profiles that spread fake news and hate speech boiled over when Musk refused to comply with a court order to a new legal representative for X in Brazil.
Both Musk and Justice Alexandre de Moraes took to X during the dispute to voice their opinions, with Musk going as far as saying“De Moraes deserves prison for his crimes.”
As the deadline for the appointment of a new legal representative expired last Thursday, Moraes ordered the platform banned in the country. On Monday, a Supreme Court panel unanimously upheld the order.
Read more: X is stranded in Brazil after Musk fails to appoint a new legal representative
Since then, many of Brazil’s 40 million X users have sought other alternatives.
Bluesky, a spin-off of X (formerly Twitter), has until now been the platform of choice for Brazilians banned from X. The company has gained over 2 million users in Brazil since the ban and has become the most downloaded app in the country during the weekend.
On September 4, the company, which counts just over 8 million users in total, announced that of the 2.6 million users it gained in the last few days, 85% are Brazilian. There are currently 4 million Bluesky users in Brazil.
Additionally, a study by digital consulting firm Bites showed that Google searches for Bluesky have surpassed searches for the term “VPN,” potentially indicating that most Brazilians prefer to migrate to other platforms rather than risk using a VPN to enter X.
Another X competitor, Threads, which is owned by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, may have also seen an increase in users, but has yet to release new figures since X’s ban. currently counts around 3.3 million users on its platform.
While all this is happening, billionaire Musk continues to attack Supreme Court Justice Moraes, calling him an “evil dictator.” Musk created a profile on X called the “Alexandre files” to publish all of the judge’s decisions that included blocking posts and profiles that shared fake news and hate speech.
Musk argued that he refused to comply with the judge’s orders because they are censorship and an attack on free speech. By disobeying orders to suspend accounts, Musk has accumulated fines exceeding R$18 million (US$3.2 million).
On Monday, Moraes’ decision was reviewed by a panel of four additional Supreme Court judges. Everyone agreed to support Moraes decision to block X.
Judge Flávio Dino said that “economic power and the size of the bank account do not create an absurd immunity from jurisdiction.” Judge Cármen Lúcia said the “repeated and unfounded disregard for Brazilian law and national legislation must receive a lasting judicial response.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized Musk in a statement, saying: “The Brazilian judiciary may have sent an important message that the world is not obliged to put up with Musk’s far-right free-for-all, just because he’s rich.”
