Opinion - Brazil bans X, adding to global social media censorship

Social media doesn’t need censorship, but it does require basic rules to protect its users and their personal information. This is why Brazil has gone too far by banning X in the largest Latin American country and X’s fourth-largest market worldwide.

Brazil has joined the club of Russia, China, North Korea, Venezuela, Iran and Pakistan, all of which have banned X partially or completely. The reasons are different in each case, but the objective is always the same: to kill the voice of the adversary and annihilate divergent thought.

The minister of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil, Alexandre de Moraes, ordered the blocking of X because Elon Musk, owner of the company, ignored judicial rulings demanding that he suspend certain accounts. Musk refused to comply with these judicial mandates and responded with a massive campaign about free speech.

De Moraes went further. The judge, considered the second most powerful man in Brazil, ordered that companies such as Google and Apple Store remove the application from their platforms. He also announced fines of $8,900 per day for those who try to circumvent the blockade by using a VPN.

X is not another social network of entertainment and bizarre dances. It is the No. 1 network in Brazil, with 22 million users who used it to announce, denounce or become informed about abuses in the public and private sectors in the South American nation.

Brazil is not alone in this controversial crusade against X. China censored Twitter in June 2009, in the context of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests. The Chinese Communist Party wanted to silence the memory of its bloody crimes. They failed in this, but the ban remains in place.

In Iran, the regime censored after the 2009 protests against its fraudulent elections. Despite this, users bypassed censorship and published information about protests and complaints about repression of human rights, especially against women.

North Korea also blocked Twitter. Only a few high-ranking officials and authorized personnel have access to the network. The Hermit Kingdom uses the network in a very restricted way for disseminating its own propaganda.

Russia banned the use of X in order to hide information about its invasion of Ukraine and the brutal war crimes that Russian soldiers have committed there. Despite this, users continue to bypass censorship by using VPN services and other similar alternatives.

The regimes of Venezuela and Pakistan censored X this year. In August, Venezuelan tyrant Nicolas Maduro banned the use of the social network to hide his third electoral fraud. The measure has been maintained indefinitely. Pakistan imposed censorship to hide political repression and human rights violations.

Brazil has become the largest democracy in the Western Hemisphere to censor X. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gave full support to the authoritarian judge and said no to free speech. “Just because a guy has a lot of money does not mean he can disrespect the law,” said the three-time president.

Lula da Silva is a defender of censorship and censors. He has been categorical in taking sides with the dictatorship of Cuba, in supporting the invasion of Ukraine and in criticizing Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

Brazil’s ban on X could generate a ripple effect in Latin America. First it was Venezuela and a month later Brazil. Countries like Mexico, Colombia, Honduras, Bolivia and Nicaragua could be next.

The business of censorship and the censorship of a business are not the same. Closing traditional or alternative communication platforms is a common practice under authoritarian regimes. It has nothing to do with the law, but with who exercises it.

The censorship of X in China, Russia, Iran and now in Brazil demonstrates the fear and clumsiness of authoritarians. Even the most brutal censorship has failed over and over again.

Social networks have put an end to the information monopoly. The world’s dictators are terrified and enraged. It is urgent not to remain silent; to use these platforms as a trench in the fight for freedom and democracy, and also to fight against misinformation and hate. This latter is a very difficult task, in which censorship is often the easiest and most dangerous way out.

Arturo McFields Yescas is an exiled journalist, former Nicaraguan ambassador to the OAS and former member of the Peace Corps of Norway (FK). 

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