Brazilian Justice bans social media giant X for non-censorship
By: Malik Shadid
On August 30th, Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered X, formerly known as Twitter, to be banned across Brazil. This action comes after a history of tension between X owner Elon Musk and the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice over censorship issues on the social media platform. De Moraes requested X to shut down what he referred to as “digital militias,” or accounts spreading false information about former president Jair Bolsonaro’s 2022 reelection campaign which he lost. Musk refused to shut these accounts down, saying de Moraes was undermining freedom of speech. Brazil needed to shut down these thoughts and ideals, and while some would say it was harsh to ban X altogether, it was necessary.
Despite its severity, the ban holds validity. While de Moraes is curbing freedom of expression, he is implementing Brazilian law, and X is not above the law. The accounts were spewing out false information, saying that Bolsnaro’s 2022 re-election loss was fraudulent and that he should have won. This type of “speech” is very harmful to the nation and can fester up negative ideas about the government without substantiated proof. X was given multiple warnings to ban the accounts, but gave excuses that there was an error in the process of shutting them down. While X’s commitment to freedom of speech is commendable, no one benefits from the spread of false information that could be detrimental to Brazilian society and encourage unfounded disapproval of the government. There’s a difference between freedom of speech and misinformation. Musk could have easily imposed stricter censorship guidelines against the spread of false information on his platform, something that has been and continues to be done in other parts of the world, including the United States.
Alexandre de Moraes banning Elon Musk’s X.
At the same time, this ban has also affected a lot of “stan” accounts. These accounts play a major role in cultivating fandoms for musicians, athletes, and actors. Brazil intended to crack down on X’s undermining of their authority and allowing the spread of misinformation, but they also shut down people’s expression of fandom to those they idolize. Additionally, the government has imposed a steep fine of 9,000 USD on anyone who attempts to log into X using a VPN.
It is hard to argue that the ban is not justifiable. X was given multiple warnings to take down those accounts and be able to stay online in Brazil, but failed to do so, under the guise of protecting freedom of expression. Despite unfortunately affecting many in the process, Brazil couldn’t let X undermine their authority and had to draw a line somewhere. It is so very important that Brazil protects itself against these thoughts and ideals, and by banning Twitter, they were able to do so.
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