Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, became accessible to many users in Brazil on Wednesday after an update to its communications network bypassed a block ordered by the country’s supreme court.
The X update used cloud services offered by third parties, notably security firm Cloudflare, allowing some Brazilian users to take a route outside the country to reach X, even without a virtual private network, according to Abrint, the Brazilian Association of Internet and Telecommunications Providers.
The number of Brazilians who access X is unknown, according to Abrint.
“I think the change was probably intentional. Why would X use a third-party service that ends up being slower than their own?” said Basilio Perez, a member of Abrint’s board.
Last month, following a months-long dispute between X owner Elon Musk and Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court ordered Brazil’s mobile and internet service providers to block the platform. Access to X was shut down within hours. Initially, Musk’s satellite internet service provider Starlink said it would continue to allow access to X in defiance of the ban, but it has since retracted those statements.
Perez added that it would be difficult to block X a second time due to the technical change and ubiquity of Cloudflare, meaning that banning access to its services could put government agencies and financial service providers at risk: “You can’t just block Cloudflare because you would block half the Internet.”
However, by the end of the day on Wednesday, Brazil’s national telecom agency, Anatel, seemed to think it might reinstate the blocking of X. Cloudfare began cooperating with Anatel and said it would isolate X’s internet traffic, according to The New York TimesThat move would make it easier to identify and block X. Cloudfare did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement posted on Twitter from X’s global government affairs account, the company said the restoration of service was an “inadvertent and temporary” side effect of the network provider change. The ordered shutdown in Brazil affected its internet infrastructure that allowed it to provide service to the rest of Latin America, according to the company.
“While we expect the platform to be inaccessible again shortly, we are continuing our efforts to work with the Brazilian government to bring it back to the people of Brazil very soon,” the statement said.
When X was shut down in Brazil, our infrastructure to serve Latin America was no longer available to our team. To continue to provide optimal service to our users, we changed network providers. This change resulted in a temporary and involuntary restoration of service…
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) September 19, 2024
According to Perez, any revised order from Anatel, which is responsible for implementing the court decision, will have to be more specific. Anatel has identified the problem and is working to notify content delivery network providers first, followed by telecommunications companies, to again block access to X in Brazil, according to a person familiar with the situation. The same person said it was unclear how long it would take for providers to comply with the order.
The day before X became available again, the White House had criticized Brazil’s digital embargo.
“When it comes to social media, we have been very clear that we believe people should have access to it. It is a form of freedom of expression,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, press secretary, in response to a question from Raquel Krähenbühl, a reporter for Brazilian outlet TV Globo.
Musk responded to the statement via X, writing: “Unexpected, but appreciated.” On Monday, the White House had called Musk “irresponsible” for posting a tweet questioning why “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” which he later deleted.
